You're Breaking, Darling
by embrace-the-deception
Summary: 'Breaking someone's spirit was easy. But breaking a man's soul? That was something else. To do that, you had to persevere, never let up, hammer at him until there was literally nothing left.' Sam and Dean? They're just the latest contract. COMPLETE
1. Break Your Soul

**You can break someone's spirit, or you can break their soul. To Maria, the first is easy. The latter is what she specialises in. Her latest contract? Break the souls of Sam and Dean Winchester.**

**Set somewhere (mid/late) in Season 5, not really sure where. Couple of spoilers for that season. There will also be an OC that was introduced in a different story of mine (Everything Has Its Price) but this fic and that one have nothing else related. Lots of violence, blood and stuff. Swearing too. Cuz that's what I'm good at, and it's what I love to write :D**

**I know I should be focusing on the four other fics I have going, but this one refuses to leave until I have it all down. I am still working on my other fics and they will all be updated soon, I promise. I've had a lot going on lately, with my family, school and I just got back from holiday. They will be updated, trust me. Plus the fact I have two AUs floating around in my head begging to be written is NOT helping ;P **

**Not a hundred percent sure where this is going, so we'll just have to see. Enjoy, and please review!**

Breaking someone down was relatively easy, Maria thought. All you had to do was bring them down to a level that even the strongest could not rise up from. It could be in the form of torture, emotional pain, even blackmail worked – when you were blackmailing someone with another they loved. Maria prided herself on having broken down every single person she had ever had to face. Her record stood in the hundreds. She didn't leave a man standing if there was an ounce of soul left in him.

Of course, Maria was no ordinary person. She'd never been normal. Not since she'd been through Hell. Going through Hell tended to turn even the most pure of souls into beasts. But Maria had never been pure, either. She'd been twisted from almost the moment she'd been born. She was sure of it. Going to Hell had been something she'd known was going to happen since she'd killed her first victim at eleven. She'd never worried about it.

Maria smiled as she looked over her newest challenge. This would be so amazingly fun. And she was being paid for this 'work', of tearing apart these two men until there was absolutely nothing left. How much more alluring could this job get?

Alistair never let it be unheard that he has been the one to break the man who started the Apocalypse. But seeing the man before her, Maria knew Alistair had never broken him. Alistair didn't know what it meant to break someone, she thought as she watched the man struggle in his own private cell. Where she would tear him down until there was nothing recognisable left. Alistair broke people's spirit. He ripped at them until they gave up, but that wasn't breaking someone. Maria snorted. Breaking someone's spirit was easy. But breaking a man's soul? That was something else. To do that, you had to persevere, never let up, hammer at him until there was literally nothing left. A shell, a husk. Dean Winchester's spirit had certainly been broken. Otherwise, there would be no looming Apocalypse. But Maria could see, just one glance was all it took. This man still had his soul. And she was going to break him down.

His brother had never felt the same torture Dean had in Hell. He'd never been broken – Maria smiled at the thought of worming her way into his mind and ripping it apart until he was nothing more than a mess. She would break the Winchesters.

**/\/\**

Dean swore violently as he fought against the ropes that bound him. Locked in a small concrete cell just big enough for him to move around a little, Dean kicked and tugged on the ropes but in vain. He sighed, resting his head against the wall but keeping a watchful guard for any movement or sounds from outside. Anything to tell if someone was coming for him.

He wondered where Sam was. They'd been attacked in their motel room by one powerful demon. She'd had the skill to slam both Winchester into unconsciousness in seconds, before they'd really had the chance to comprehend what was going on. Dean hoped that Sam was okay. He'd seen his brother's head hit the wall hard, heard a crack before being sucked into a deep ocean of darkness. Then again, the crack could have come from him. His neck was aching something crazy, not to mention his head and back. His chest felt tight and his wrists and ankles throbbed with pain from the bindings.

Dean looked around. The cell really was tiny, he noticed. It was twice as wide as his body and long enough for him to rest his feet against the door with his knees slightly bent.  
><em><br>Who makes rooms this small?  
><em>  
>The door was thick, solid metal with no window to let in any light. The only source of light came from the bulb dangling a few feet above his head. As he looked up, Dean noted the speaker and the small camera attached to the far corners. Watching him. Whoever this demon was, it was probably watching him right now. Again he wondered where Sam was. If the cell was barely big enough for him, he hoped for Sam's sake that wherever the demon was keeping him was bigger. There was no way she'd fit the Sasquatch-sized kid in a cell like this. At least not without severe discomfort. Dean chuckled at the mental image.<p>

Then his smile faded. He was assuming Sam was still alive. For all he knew, Sam could be lying in a pool of his own blood back in the motel room. He knew it was unlikely, but still the possibility of it taunted him. Of course, if the demon only wanted him then all she had to do was corner him when he was alone. But you never knew with demons. The only thing you could really count on was that they were evil sons of bitches, and whatever they did, they did it for an ulterior motive. Ninety percent of the time it was to help Lucifer, or so it seemed at the moment.

Dean froze as he heard faint footsteps walking towards him. He pulled his feet back as far as he could, figuring he could kick out when the door opened and maybe catch the demon by surprise. The footsteps stopped outside the door, and then the grating sound of metal on metal resounded as it was unlocked. As the door swung open, Dean kicked out with all his strength. But the demon as ready for him. She stepped back, leaving Dean nothing to hit, and his feet thudded to the ground. The hunter glared as the female demon walked back into view, a smug smile gracing her ruby red lips.

Despite having a demon possessing her, the woman vessel was quite beautiful. She was white, but with a slightly Hispanic look about her. Her hair hung in dark curls around her shoulders and her eyes were a pale green. The woman's skin was just as pale and she wore high-heeled, calf-length boots, jean mini shorts and a sleeveless white top with a peace sign motif on the front.

_How ironic_, Dean mumbled to himself in his head.

The woman – demon, Dean reminded himself – folded her arms and leaned against the door casually. The pair stared at each other until finally Dean broke the silence.

"So," he started "I'll cut right to the chase. What do you want?"

The demon simply smiled and shook her head, pushing herself off the door and standing back on her own two feet.

"Nothing much. Just you. Broken and defeated and willing to do whatever I want."

"Well, sorry sweetheart," Dean laughed "That ain't gonna happen."

The demon didn't stop smiling, which usually didn't unnerve Dean. But her smile was so… different. It was cold and smug, dark and foreboding all at the same time. But he didn't let anything show on his face.

"You see, Dean," the demon said as she lifted her hand and in the process, lifted Dean to his feet "I know it will. They always say they'll never be broken. They show such bravado and courage. But soon enough they're all at my feet and ready to obey whatever order I give them."

Dean swayed as he was set down carefully, regaining his balance. The ropes around his ankles unravelled and dropped to the floor, but before Dean could even think about running he was frozen in place.

"The thing is, I've been doing this for centuries. I know what I'm doing and not once have I ever failed to break someone. No matter how long it takes, I _will_ break you down."

Dean snarled, "I'd like to see you try. There is nothing you can do to me that will break me."

The demon smiled – again – and laughed. It was a soft laugh, gentle but full of malice and contempt. She twitched a finger and forced the hunter to follow her out of the cells and down the concrete hall outside.

"Darling, I know your past. Alistair thinks he broke you. Well, I'm here to tell you that he only broke your spirit. And I'm here to break your soul."

**/\/\**

Sam blinked behind the cloth blindfold, staying as silent as possible to determine his surroundings and any incoming sounds. But there was only silence, and a lot of that. He sighed, working at the ropes that bound his hands.

He remembered the demon attack. She'd walked right into their room, blasting the door off its hinges. She obviously didn't like subtle. She'd then proceeded to slam his head against the wall a couple of times until he couldn't see anymore – either from blood or unconsciousness, Sam wasn't sure.

He figured the latter when he'd woken in a tiny cell that really wasn't built to hold someone his size. He'd felt almost claustrophobic in the tight space that had him pressed up against a wall with his knees nearly under his chin. Dean would laugh himself stupid if he ever saw Sam in such a situation, he knew. But a few minutes after waking he'd heard someone approach his cell. The door had been unlocked and flung open and again, before Sam could do anything, the same demon woman whipped his head against the concrete and rendered him unconscious.

Sam assumed it was a demon. He'd never seen anything else with such power. She was extremely powerful, which meant she was high ranked. Which meant she was more dangerous than a lot of other monsters they'd fought. And something with that amount of power didn't randomly kidnap people. At least, he didn't think so. So she wanted something.

But what?

Sam sighed again as he gave up his attempt at untying the ropes around his wrists. He was tied to a chair in some unknown place, thankfully bigger than the last room he'd woken up in. Blindfolded and bound, Sam wondered where the hell he was. He hated being blindfolded more than he hated monsters. More than he hated demons, and even more than he hated Lucifer. Tied up was one thing. Being blinded was something else entirely. Sam was sure it had started when he was eight. Dean had blindfolded him and left him alone in the empty motel room for hours. It was only when he'd started crying and hallucinating that something was brushing against him that Dean had come back in and freed him. The episode had never been forgotten (nor had Dean ever let him forget that it'd only taken two hours for him to start crying like a baby, even though Sam knew he still felt guilty) and even now he hated not being able to see. Anything could be happening - anyone could be there, watching him – and he wouldn't know.

A sudden voice sounded in the room, making him flinch. Sam swore under his breath and swung his head around in search of the source. But it seemed to be coming from all around him… A P.A system? Possibly.

"Sammy!" the voice said playfully, excited. A female voice. Sam figured it was the demon, and he stayed silent. If the demon could hear him, he wasn't going to let her have the satisfaction of his confusion just yet.

Laughter flooded the room, "Nice to see you're up. Not too scared there, darling? Don't worry, there's nothing there to hurt you. Though if you start feeling something…"

The voice trailed off and Sam paused, waiting. The sudden feeling of someone brushing against his bound hands had him flinching in surprise and clenching his fists. Dammit. This demon was good.

Her laughter once again swept over him, "Oh, poor Sammy. Sorry darling, but you really are just too much fun."

Sam froze, determined not to let her get the better of him again. He wasn't a child anymore. There was nothing there; she was just screwing with him.

He couldn't hold back the instinctive gasp as something licked his hands. _Licked_. A smooth tongue lapped at his fingers and at that moment Sam would have given anything to be able to see. What the hell was this demon playing at?

**/\/\**

Dean was led into a large room which apparently was the centre of control. Computer screens and lights flashed and blinked, switches and buttons beside them. He looked around, but there were no windows at all in this concrete room. He was beginning to suspect he was underground – a bunker of some sort?

The demon played around with a few buttons and suddenly an image was projected onto one of the cold grey walls. Dean swore when he saw his brother, tied to a chair and alone in the middle of an empty room. A black cloth was tied around his head and instantly Dean thought of Sam's pet hate.

The demon pressed another button and began talking to Sam. Dean watched as his brother lifted his head and looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. But he quickly figured it out and remained still. Dean smirked. The bitch couldn't scare Sam that easily.

But then Sam flinched, his body leaning forward. The younger bit his lip, and Dean could just imagine the sudden fear in his brother's eyes. Whatever the demon had done, it'd surprised Sam. Dean ground his teeth as he watched, unable to move or speak as the demon continued speaking to Sam.

Then Sam reacted a little more violently. He arched his body, mouth open in a gasp of shock. Dean watched as his brother twitched and fought the restraints. Now the demon was getting to him. Quickly.

The demon turned to Dean and smiled – God, Dean wished she would stop doing that. She pointed at the screen and it flickered slightly. Dean would have started in surprise at what he saw, but mentally bound as he was he had to settle for a sudden intake of breath. What had previously been Sam alone in the cold concrete room was now Sam and something else. Something Dean knew all too well. Something that still scared the shit out of him to this day, no matter how much he denied it.

The big, shaggy mutt was chest height to Sam and sat behind the bound man. Every time it licked his hand, Sam would pull back as far as he could and fought a little harder. He did his best not to show too much of his fear but Dean could see just how scared he was. Guilt flooded back to him as he remembered his brother's torment all those years ago.

"_Dean? Dean, stop it! Get me out of this!" Sam called, his voice shaking slightly._

_Dean had to struggle to hold back the laughter. It'd been two hours since he'd snuck in and tied and blindfolded his little brother. He figured waking up to that wasn't the most fun in the world. Since then, Sam had been calling out. Luckily there was no one in the adjoining rooms. Otherwise they might start to get suspicious, and Dean couldn't have that. His father would kill him if they had to skip town because he'd had to play a joke on his brother._

"_Dean! It's not funny!"_

_Something brushed against his hand, and Dean looked down. That stray dog, a black and white mutt, had been following him for days now. It sat beside him and looked up, brown eyes wide and begging for a pat. Dean smirked, an idea forming in his mind. He held back a laugh as he silently opened the door and shooed the dog in. It bounded inside, seeing Sam and running over eagerly. Dean watched with a hand over his mouth. Sam had sat up on the bed, but hadn't attempted to stand or go anywhere. His ankles and wrists were bound and the blindfold still firmly in place. The dog sat down beside Sam, asking with its huge eyes for some attention. Dean sniggered. When the dog didn't get a reaction, he nuzzled Sam's side._

_The reaction was instantaneous. Sam squealed and kicked out, falling off the bed. He hit the ground hard and the dog, thinking Sam was playing, jumped on him and pawed his chest. Sam cried out again, trying to kick the dog off._

_"DEAN!"_

_Dean stared at the chaos that was unfolding. Sam was crying – there was tear stains on the gun rag he'd used as blindfold. His little brother was terrified and the dog pawed at him insistently. It licked his face, which only made Sam sob and scream._

_"DEAN! HELP ME!"_

_It kick-started Dean into action. He ran in and dragged the dog out the door. Then he raced back to his terrified brother. Sam was struggling to sit up, and Dean helped him. Quickly he ripped off the blindfold, hating how scared Sam looked._

_"It's okay, Sammy," Dean said, hugging him._

_Sam clung on, still crying, "I thought the monster was gonna get me."_

_Dean shook his head, holding his brother close as he quickly slipped off the ties he'd used to bind his ankles and wrists. A concerned passer-by glanced in – luckily after the evidence had been hidden behind Dean. He shook his head, willing the woman to walk on. After a moment, she nodded and walked off. Dean breathed a sigh of relief as Sam held on tighter and tighter._

_"You're okay, Sam. It's gone."_

_Sam sniffed, calming down slightly. He looked up at his brother, eyes red and puffy, "It wasn't funny."_

_Dean nodded, "No, it wasn't."_

Now Dean's guilt was intensified tenfold as he was forced to watch his brother's discomfort. He gritted his teeth but there was nothing he could do. He was bound by the demon, unable to move or speak. Dean managed to growl in anger and the demon glanced at him, the corner of her mouth twitching upwards.

"This is only the beginning, Dean," she smirked as the hellhound shifted to wander past Sam. His brother jerked in surprise as thick black fur flickered against his hands.

The demon flicked a finger, which allowed Dean to speak. He quickly swore in numerous languages which only made the demon laugh.

"I swear to God, I will _kill_ you."

"Dean?"

The older Winchester started at the sound of Sam's voice. Apparently they could communicate, and the demon wasn't stopping him. Dean shot her a filthy glare as he answered his brother.

"Sammy? I'm right here. You're fine, okay?"

"Dean, where the hell are you? No, scratch that. Where the hell am I?" Sam did his best to hide the fear twisting in his gut, but his brother knew him too well. There was nothing Sam could hide from  
>Dean.<p>

"I don't know where we are," Dean replied, keeping the demon in his peripheral vision whilst fixing his gaze on his brother. Sam had relaxed slightly now that the hellhound was sat by the opposite wall and not tormenting him anymore. Fire-red eyes set deep in the huge head stared at Sam, dark fur shading them slightly. Dean was glad Sam couldn't see it – they were scary enough in Hell, let alone up top.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Dean said, mostly the truth. Physically, he was fine. Emotionally? He was scared to death.

Sam twisted in the chair, tensed for a return of the sensations he couldn't see, "Do you know what the demon wants?"

Dean shook his head, "She hasn't said anything to me. I have no idea. But everything's gonna be fine, Sammy, okay? We're going to get out of this alive."

Sam opened his mouth to reply but the demon beat him to it. She laughed, a long high giggle of amusement. She shook her head, dark hair shivering, and spoke to both her captives.

"Boys," she smiled "You have no idea who I am. What they call me in Hell. I'm Maria. I'm the Soul-Breaker. I've never failed to bring someone, even the bravest, down to their knees begging. You may get out of here alive, but not the same. I will not let you go until there is nothing left of your souls, of who you are."

Dean snarled, "You won't win."

Maria laughed again, "I always do, darling. Always."

"People will know we're missing now," Sam added "Powerful people. They'll slaughter you."

"Yeah, go Cas," Dean muttered.

Maria shrugged and smirked as she switched her gaze from Dean to Sam and back again.

"I've been sent here," she said coldly, staring at Dean harshly "To deal with you two. No one else seems to be able to get you boys to do _anything_, you're so goddamn stubborn. I'm here to change that. Pretty soon, you'll be desperate to do whatever I ask, even if I ask you to perhaps..."

She trailed off, once again swapping her focus between the brothers until she settled on Dean again, the only one who could actually see her. He glared at her, still unable to move.

"Say yes to your respective angels? Oh, how the angels would just _love_ that. Lucifer's just dying to get out of Hell, Sammy," Maria giggled again, directing her last comment to Sam. He growled and tossed his head in defiance. There was nothing this demon could do to make him say yes. Nothing.

"Oh, and Dean," Maria shot him a glance "Michael's quite hurt, actually. You keep denying him, it's hurt his feelings."

"Like I give a shit," Dean swore, Sam echoing his sentiments.

"Well, by the time I'm finished with you two, you'll both be wondering why on earth you didn't say yes before."

Before either Winchester could respond, Maria flipped a switch and the image of Sam vanished from the wall. The demon walked over to Dean and clicked her fingers. As she walked down the hall, Dean was forced to follow, unable to resist the demonic pull dragging him after her. She took him back to his cell, tossing him in before releasing him from the demon power she held over him. Dean tried to stand but the door was slammed shut before he could get a grip on the floor. With the door shut there wasn't enough room to get comfortable, let alone stand. Dean growled, staring up at the ceiling and the bare light bulb flickering above him. A second later it shorted out, throwing the small, cold cell into complete darkness apart from a sliver of light that entered through the gap under the door. Dean sighed, resting his head against the wall to his left.

Things really weren't going his way.

**/\/\**

Sam was only left alone in the room for another few minutes after the communications ceased. He waited nervously, tensed for any other strange sensations that might decide to appear. But there was none. He knew the demon was just screwing with him, but it didn't make it any easier to deal with. The blindfold was scaring the crap out of him, and even though he'd tried to hide it he knew Dean understood. When he finally heard the metal door screech open, it was almost a relief. He knew it was the demon; he remembered her slight scent of rose, but at least he was getting the hell out of this room. Hopefully blindfold-free.

But he wasn't so lucky. He heard a snap of fingers and suddenly felt compelled to stand. He did so, realising the demon was controlling him. Maria – that was what she'd called herself. Soul-Breaker. Dark.

Maria led him out of the room, still blinded, until he heard the sound of metal against metal as a door scraped open. He was shoved inside by a small, thin hand and Sam hit the far wall hard (which technically, Sam thought grumpily, wasn't that far at all). He slammed into concrete and slid down, twisting to sit down heavily and face the direction of the door before it was closed with a sharp bang. Sam's feet were shoved up against the door, knees up near his chin. He sighed, pressed up against the wall as far as his bound arms to give himself extra leg room.

Sam hoped she wasn't going to keep him here long. He was starting to get a cramp in his leg, and he was _sure_ he'd just felt someone's hand brush against his forehead.


	2. Help and Assistance

**Sorry for the long wait guys. My internets broken down on my laptop (for some reason, it only affects my computer). Plus, I've got heaps of homework I still haven't finished. But I already have the next chapter of this finished so I'll post it next time I get to the internet. Hope you enjoy this chapter however!**

Bobby didn't usually swear much, but at the moment there was little else in his sentences. He was searching for any signs of the Winchester boys, as he hadn't heard from them when they said they'd call. That had been last night. Usually he would wait a few days after not hearing from them when they said, just in case they were busy or caught up in a hunt. But Bobby had the strangest feeling about this time. Something didn't feel right at all.

He sighed as he hung up the phone. No one had seen or heard from Sam or Dean for the last day. Which wasn't strange in itself. The Winchesters weren't the type to continually keep in touch – just enough to keep the people they knew happy. Bobby decided the only one who would really know if the boys were in danger was Castiel. That angel kept the closest tabs on the boys and was practically attached to Dean at the hip. If something was wrong, Castiel would know; there was no doubt about it.

"Uh, Castiel?" Bobby called out to empty air, feeling stupid. How the hell were you supposed to call for an angel? What were you supposed to say?

Luckily he didn't have to speak again. The dark haired angel appeared almost instantly after his name, looking down at Bobby from a few feet away.

"I assume you want to know about the Winchesters?" Castiel asked, and Bobby wondered if the hint of emotion he heard in the angel's voice was worry. Did Castiel worry? It was odd to hear _anything_ other than blankness in the angel's voice, but worry? That didn't bode well for the boys.

"Yeah. Has something happened to them?" Bobby asked, his stomach dropping as Castiel hesitated, then nodded. He was silent, frustration building up inside Bobby until finally he couldn't take it any longer.

"Well? What's happened? Are they in danger?"

Castiel sighed and bit his lip, "They were taken two nights ago from a motel in St Morleys. I couldn't stop it. They were kidnapped by a demon – a very powerful one, one that could contend even with an angel's power. More dangerous than any demon you've ever come across."

Bobby nodded, most of his attention focused on the fact that the brothers had been kidnapped – _again_. Honestly, couldn't they keep themselves out of trouble for more than five minutes? Especially with the Apocalypse looming, it was imperative to keep the Winchesters out of the way of both angels and demons.

"How powerful _is_ he?"

"She," Castiel corrected.

"Is she anything like Lilith?" Bobby asked, his heart sinking down to join his stomach.

Castiel shrugged, "Lilith was one thing, but Maria is another. Lilith was created with her power. She was Lucifer's first demon. But Maria earned her power. She worked her way up through the ranks to become Lucifer's favourite. Her power is close to Lucifer's own. The Winchesters have little chance of escaping."

"Then we'll have to bust them out of there, won't we?" Bobby said.

Castiel turned his gaze on Bobby, blue eyes fierce, "Were you not listening? She could equal or even overpower me in mental strength. Plus, I cannot locate them. Not only because of the marks I placed on them, but Maria has hidden them herself. That I cannot even remotely locate them is a sign of her strength. If I cannot defeat her, then you have no chance."

Bobby glared. Everything Castiel was saying made sense, but it didn't make going along with it any easier. Not being able to do anything annoyed Bobby, especially now that he had lost the use of his legs. He sighed angrily, rubbing a hand over his face. Getting the Winchesters out of their continuous messes was a constant hassle.

"I will see what I can do," Castiel said finally before vanishing.

**/\/\**

Maria smiled to herself as she flicked through the different screens until she found the one she wanted. The camera video of Dean Winchester in his cramped cell. Maria knew that inability to move created tension throughout the body. Tension that she could then exploit. Dean Winchester was resting, having been fighting all through the evening until she'd turned the lights off. Maria glanced up at the clock. She would turn the lights on and off according to daylight hours, but then the fun would begin – she would switch them around to confuse and disorient the captives. Day would become night, and they would have only a few hours of sleep a day. Anything and everything helped with breaking someone down. Maria smirked as Dean twisted in his sleep. Soon it would be morning, and she would commence her first session with him. Sam had been fun, but nothing would be more so than Dean. Having already been 'broken' before, he would be stronger and harder to get to. A definite challenge, the like of which she hadn't had in years.

A sudden chill ran through the control room. Maria smiled and turned to face the man who had just arrived. He smiled in return and walked up to Maria, embracing her quickly. He was slightly shorter than her, with shoulder length black hair and a round face with deep-sunken grey eyes, dulled by the vessel's obvious constant drug use. A dirty grey, faded t-shirt and torn jeans with sneakers completed the look.

"Rafe," Maria said, a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Rafe grinned, yellowed teeth showing up bright in the darkness of the control room.

"I hear you have a new contract," he said, gesturing to the screen which still showed the live feed from Dean Winchester's cell. Maria moved aside to let him see. He smiled.

"Dean Winchester. Interesting. Who hired you?"

"Does it matter?" Maria shrugged. Rafe didn't need to know that both sides in this war had asked her to break down the brothers. She had accepted both offers, making sure neither side knew about the other. Even with her immense power and high status, she would be slaughtered if someone found out.

"How far have you gotten?"

Maria shook her head, "Not far. I've only had them here for a day or so. But soon they'll be nothing. You can count on that."

"Them?"

Maria nodded, "Both of them. That was the contract."

Rafe laughed, "Need any help?

The higher demon snorted, as if the very idea was filthy. But then she laughed, her high giggle resounding through the control room and echoing long after she had stopped and answered Rafe's question.

"If you want to hang around, I don't mind. I could use the company. The Winchesters have such foul language and a definite racist tendency towards demons."

Rafe chuckled, looking back at the screen and twisting the dial beside it to flick through the other security cameras. He caught sight of the feed from inside Sam's cell, and paused. Maria watched his eyes flick over the image. Sam was asleep, or at least appeared to be. His eyes were closed and his breathing was even. She'd removed the blindfold about an hour ago, and he'd put up a hell of a fight. The bruises he'd sustained after she'd thrown him against the wall were blooming along his arms and she guessed on his back.

"He's so... innocent, yet so dark at the same time."

Maria smiled. Rafe loved those pure souls tainted by darkness. Sam Winchester was a prime example, someone he'd wished to see ever since his brother had ended up in Hell. Maria knew this was the only reason Rafe had come. He'd known all along that she was working with the Winchesters, and had come to get a piece of Sam. And as long as he said yes to Lucifer, she didn't mind what Rafe did.

**/\/\**

Castiel knew he couldn't fight Maria on his own. Only an archangel could have anywhere near the power needed to bring her down. There was only one archangel he knew that he could trust. Raphael would exploit the brothers, Michael was out of the question, and Gabriel was dead. Zadkiel was virtually Michael's pet, and Cassiel couldn't be trusted with anything. That left Ariel.

Ariel worked with Raphael, healing minds as he healed physical bodies. But Castiel knew that despite her connection with the other archangel, Ariel could be trusted with this task. Having been very close friends with Gabriel, Ariel would help a friend of his. At least, he hoped so.

Castiel found the archangel in Raphael's corner of Heaven. She was lying on her back, wings spread out to encase her in a feathery cocoon. Only her feet and blood-red hair, tinged with the slightest hints of brown, were visible under the sunset wings. Castiel walked up to her silently, but somehow the archangel seemed to know he was coming. She unfurled her wings, bands of shimmering orange and red light sliding down her layered feathers. Sitting up, Ariel brushed her hair away from her face and looked up at Castiel. Smoke-grey eyes stared pointedly as Castiel hesitated.

"What do you want?" she asked finally, folding her arms.

"I need a favour," Castiel started, but Ariel cut him off with a raised hand.

"This is about the Winchesters, isn't it? What have they done now?"

Castiel sighed, running a hand through his hair and flexing his wings in frustration, "Maria has them. I can't fight her. Only an archangel can. You're the only one I can trust to help me."

Ariel paused, getting to her feet and looking at Castiel strangely. She contemplated his unspoken question as she stared at him. Castiel felt uncomfortable and shifted from foot to foot. At last, the archangel spoke.

"It will be dangerous, even for me."

Castiel nodded.

Ariel sighed, a small smile on her face, "Fine. But now you owe me."

Castiel nodded again, relieved. He could deal with anything Ariel asked him to do. At least the Winchesters would be safe. Once they were found.

**/\/\**

"Dean!" the voice called as the light flicked on, stretching his name out and ending with a giggle.

Dean jumped, eyes flashing open at the sound of his name. He twisted into a sitting position and faced the door, surprised to find it shut. Then he remembered the speaker in the far right corner. He glared at the camera, knowing Maria would be watching him.

"Good to see you're awake!" Maria chuckled "I'm just sending my friend down to fetch you. We're going to have a nice one-on-one chat today. And my friend will also be talking to Sam, so he won't feel too left out. Be nice to Rafe, okay?"

Dean muttered under his breath, "Fuck that."

The door grated open with a squeal to reveal a man with dark hair and eyes, and faded clothes. Rafe – or so Dean assumed – grinned and dragged the hunter out of the cell. Obviously he didn't have the same level of strength that Maria did, Dean thought as Rafe set him on his feet and rendered him frozen with demonic power. Rafe stared at him for a moment, thoughtful. He had to look up to see Dean's face, as he was at least a foot shorter than the hunter. Dean eyed him coldly as Rafe seemed to rethink his decision and thawed out Dean's legs.

"Move."

The demon pushed him forward and he stumbled, his arms frozen to his sides. The hunter glared pointedly at Rafe, but walked down the corridor.

They only walked to the end of the corridor before Rafe stopped Dean from going any further. Dean glanced at the metal door Rafe was unlocking. It looked identical to the door to his own cell. Just like all the other doors in this godforsaken place. Rafe swung the door open and Dean stared at the occupant of the cell.

Sam's legs stuck halfway out the door and he was twisted uncomfortably on his side. Dark bruises decorated the backs of his arms, just visible under the sleeves of the checked shirt Sam was wearing. The man winced as he rolled back to a sitting position and stared blankly at his brother.

"Dean?" was all he got out before Rafe dragged him out of the cell and onto his feet. A second later he was under the control of Rafe and unable to speak. The demon pushed both of the Winchesters forward and down the left hand corridor.

The brothers didn't need to be able to speak to talk to each other. Dean glanced at Sam's bruises, asking silently if he were okay. Sam returned the look with no pain in his eyes, reassuring his brother that he was okay. They traded a few more glances – _what's going on? I have no idea _– before Rafe stopped them with a sharp blow between their shoulder blades.

A minute later Rafe stopped the Winchesters outside another door. This time he kicked it open and shoved Dean through. He stumbled through, almost tripping as the door slammed shut behind him.

Dean looked around cautiously. Wherever he was, it was pitch black. He put a hand out in front of him to judge the distance to the far wall, almost hesitantly. Who knew what the hell Maria had hidden for him in here?

He took a step forward just as the lights clicked on. Dean's hand dropped down to his side as he saw the room. It was identical to the one he'd seen Sam in yesterday. Just a chair in the centre of the room. The walls were pale beige, the floor white tiles.

The familiar sensation of being held in place by demonic power swept over him suddenly, and Dean rolled his eyes. Maria walked around from behind him, her ever-present smile on her face and a spring in her step. She brushed dark hair from her face and back over her shoulder as she stopped a pace away from Dean.

"Hey Dean," she smirked, grabbing his shirt and pulling him forward. She dumped him in the chair, hands on his shoulders and face an inch away. Dean glared back at her.

"How're you feeling?" Maria asked, heels clicking on the tile as she walked away. She stopped at the door and turned to face Dean again.

"Just great," the hunter smirked sarcastically as Maria chuckled lightly under her breath.

"Now Dean, we're going to talk about what I said earlier."

Dean didn't take his eyes off the demon as he replied, "What, that you're going to force us to say yes to the angels? I don't see that happening."

"Oh," Maria smiled "But I do. In fact, by the end of next week at the latest, you _will_be under my complete control."

Dean laughed this time, hesitant laughter as he wondered if Maria could actually bring him down to that level. He thought he'd been broken down before, in Hell, but even then he'd reserved hatred for the demons, and for Alistair. He'd reserved his love for his brother, he'd remembered everything and never stopped thinking about escaping or going back up to the real world. Maria was saying that he wouldn't care anymore. He wouldn't give a damn about anything else except her. But he couldn't accept that. He could never accept that he could be brought down to such a low level.

"Fuck you, Maria. Try all you like, but you'll never have me at your feet. You'll never get me to say yes. You'll never break me down."

Maria laughed her high-pitched giggle and folded her arms tightly against her chest as she walked forward a few paces.

"Oh but Dean!" she said smugly "That's exactly why I love you! You're such a challenge! You are going to be the most exciting contract of my life, and I've been around for a while."

**/\/\**

Sam looked around. The demon had pushed him into a beige-walled room, white tiles coating the floor. He barely had the chance to realise that the only thing in the room besides him and the demon was a metal chair; the demon shoved him towards it. The breath was knocked out of him as the demon slammed him down into the chair and landed a heavy blow to his chest. Unable to move from lack of air, Sam sat dazed as the demon tied him to the chair.

A moment later the shorter man stepped back and folded his arms, surveying his handiwork. Sam shook his head. Lack of sleep and the tightness in his chest left him a little confused as to what exactly was going on around him. He did, however, understand when the demon was suddenly an inch away from his face, leaning on Sam's shoulder's to steady himself.

The pair stared at each other in silence, dark on glazed grey, unmoving for a long while. Sam couldn't move due to the ropes and the demon's hold over him, which left him only able to glare defiantly at the demon.

"Sam Winchester. I've been wanting to meet you for a very long time," the demon said finally "The name's Rafe. Remember it, because we'll be spending a lot of time I each other's company."

Sam stayed quiet. He had nothing to say anyway. Rafe tilted his head slightly, curiosity sparkling in his eyes. He lifted one hand to brush away the bangs that had fallen in front of Sam's face and shaded his eyes. If he could have moved Sam would have pulled back, but he had to settle for continuing to stare in defiance. Suddenly, Rafe leaned forward, his head near Sam's ear.

"I may not be Maria," he whispered, a shudder racing through the hunter's body "But I will break you all the same."

**Ariel is from another story of mine (Everything Has Its Price) but the storyline from that has nothing to do with this. Just the same character. **


	3. Manipulated

**Sorry for the wait. School's really getting to me, but I managed to get this chapter and the next one down. Finally :P *dies***

**Hope you enjoy! This is actually the longest chapter I've ever written, I'm quite proud of it. Please review!**

"So Dean," Maria snapped, yet smiled slightly as she gripped the hunter's hair and wrenched his head backwards "Having fun yet?"

Dean growled, closing his eyes against the harsh lighting shining above him. It was already his fourth day in the hellhole, as far as he knew. He wasn't sure, as Maria could have been messing with his time just to disorient him. And damn, did he feel disoriented. He hated feeling so confused, especially when it was vital that he knew what was going on and when. If he was going to get himself and Sam out of there, he had to figure out how.

"You're being even more stubborn than I thought, Dean," Maria said, her voice lowering as she let go of Dean's hair. He dropped his head, attempting once again to break free of Maria's demonic hold. But as always, it held him fast to the chair. He flicked his gaze to the demon now wandering around him almost aimlessly.

"I told you," he smirked "I don't break that easy."

"But you are forgetting one thing, Dean," Maria said smugly from behind him "I've got all the time in the world. Even if it takes me eternity, I will break you down."  
>Dean opened his mouth to respond, but Maria interrupted as she swept back around into his view.<p>

"I have a proposition for you."

"No."

Maria laughed, "You don't even know what it is. I could give you anything."

Dean rolled his tired eyes, "Yeah, for what in return? I said no."

Maria walked closer, boot heels clicking until she stopped a pace or so away from the hunter. She slid into his lap and folded her arms, smirking at Dean's growl.

"Don't worry Dean. I'm not that type of girl."

Dean's disbelieving gaze had Maria giggling like a little girl, and she patted his shoulder as she shook her head.

"Alright, you got me. I am. It's exactly the type of girl I am. And guess what? It's also just the type of guy Rafe is. You remember Rafe, right? He'll be talking to Sammy right about now."

Dean froze, his insides rolling into some kind of mushy soup at the thought of Rafe and his little brother. In the same situation he was in right at the moment with Maria. It made him sick. Depending on the offer, what would Sam do?

Dean knew that for his brother, Sam would do almost anything.

"What do you want?" Dean sighed. _Hey_, he thought _It could always be worse.  
><em>  
>Maria smiled, "Just a kiss, darling. And I'll tell Rafe to back off Sam. Simple as that."<p>

Dean paused, glaring at the demon in anger and defiance. Maria smirked as the hunter worked it over in his mind. He figured it wasn't too much to ask, really. In the end, he nodded.

"This better not be some demon trick."

Maria chuckled, "Nope. And you know what? I'll even throw in a freebie, 'cause I'm feeling nice. I'll let you see Sam as well, if you like."

Dean raised an eyebrow. She was in a good mood. He had the sneaking suspicion that this would come back to bite him on the ass, but he nodded.

"Fine."

Maria leaned forward and Dean closed his eyes.

He felt her lips on his and stayed still. Maria pulled back slightly.

"That's not fair, Dean. I didn't ask for a one-sided kiss."

Dean growled and when she shifted forwards again, he kissed her back aggressively. Using just under twenty years of experience, Dean attacked her mouth with his, forcing her back as far as his frozen body would allow. Maria fought back, tongue invading. Dean didn't bother to think about the fact he was being manipulated very easily by a demon and breathed a sigh of relief when Maria tilted her head back and broke the contact. She smiled slightly at him.

"Happy?" Dean muttered.

Maria licked her lips, making Dean roll his eyes. He just wanted to see Sam, make sure he was okay. And make sure Rafe wasn't doing something he'd regret.

"I'll tell Rafe to back off. You can see Sam tomorrow."

Dean swore under his breath, but didn't fight the sentencing. He didn't want to piss her off and have her change her mind. He hadn't seen Sam in days and he needed to know if his brother was okay. That lack of knowledge was causing more tension in him than anything else – even the tiny cell or Maria's light attempts at torture. He knew she was only warming up; a demon that powerful certainly knew what she was doing, but for the moment Dean was quite happy with how her attempts were going.

Maria stood up and let Dean get to his feet. She forced him to walk back to his cell, the short trip quickly becoming ingrained in Dean's memory. A left, down the hall, a right, and halfway down the corridor to his cell. He knew where Sam's cell lay, and he couldn't resist a quick glance at it as he passed. Sam wasn't in there, but it didn't make a difference. Sam was stuck in a cell smaller than a shoebox, and Dean was sure it was going to get on the kid's nerves. Hell, even _he_ was twitchy after being caged up in that cell for hours.

Maria shoved him back into his own little room and locked the door behind him. Dean fell awkwardly, landing on his side. His legs curled up due to the lack of space and Dean found himself stuck on his left side, face pressed painfully into the cold concrete floor and the top of his head jammed in the corner tightly. His arms were folded firmly between his chest and knees, which made sure there was no chance of him shifting his arms – or any other part of his body, for that matter.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Dean yelled, already starting to get a headache from the pressure being exerted on his head by the solid concrete corner.

**/\/\**

"You wanna run that by me again?" Sam asked, hoping to buy time. Because what Rafe had said had _not_ gone over well in his head.

"You heard me."  
><em><br>Yeah, I heard you_, Sam grumbled in his head _Doesn't mean I liked it._

Rafe was smiling smugly, looking for all the world like the cat that got the canary. Sam glared at him, eyes narrowed. There was no way in Hell he was going to kiss Rafe.

"Look, Sammy," Rafe said, the nickname grating and Sam snarled quietly "Your brother is stuck with Maria at the moment. And as you know, that woman is one mean bitch. She didn't get her powers by doing nothing. And I happen to know that what she's got planned for Dean certainly ain't gonna be pretty."

"You think I'm just gonna do anything for Dean? Dean can take care of himself. He's stronger than he looks," Sam snapped, pissed off. Sure, he might actually agree to Rafe's demand if Dean was in danger, but the demon didn't need to know that. Whatever leverage he could get over Rafe would be one less thing Rafe could use against him.

"Fair enough," Rafe shrugged, nonchalant. He stepped forward and produced something from his pocket. Sam didn't have the time to register what it was before his sight suddenly vanished. Rafe tied the blindfold firmly around Sam's head, the hunter tensing his muscles reflexively.

Hearing now heightened due to the loss of his sight, Sam heard Rafe step around the chair to stand in front of him. The demon's hands rested on the hunter's forearms and Sam hissed, surprised.  
><em><br>Shit. Shit. Shit._

"So, Sammy," Rafe continued, his voice low but breath hot against Sam's face "You gonna reconsider that answer?"

"Fuck you Rafe."

The demon laughed quietly. Sam closed his eyes behind the blindfold, tilting his head to the side to escape the demon's fingers now twirling through his hair. A disgusted shudder ran through the hunter, making the demon chuckle and lean forward until his forehead rested against Sam's.

"Having fun?"

Sam spoke through gritted teeth, "Get the fuck away from me."

Rafe started to say something, but paused. Sam waited tensely as Rafe was silent for a long few minutes. He wondered what the demon was doing when Rafe suddenly stepped back away from the hunter.

"Looks like you're safe. For now," Rafe said, sounding angry "But Dean ain't gonna be able to protect you forever."

Sam breathed a deep sigh of relief, not entirely understanding but knowing that Rafe was backing off. Whatever Dean had done, Sam was grateful. He just hoped his brother was okay.

Rafe ripped off the blindfold, Sam blinking in the sudden light as the demon untied him and dragged him from the room. Sam stumbled behind Rafe until they reached the cell that was fast becoming a twisted version of home. Rafe all but threw Sam in and locked the door, the hunter barely able to get into a semi-comfortable position before the door slammed shut.

Sam sighed. Dean would be okay. Right?

**/\/\**

Bobby stared at the far wall, unseeing in his exhaustion. The search for the Winchesters wasn't going well in the slightest. They were still no closer to finding the boys and Castiel was becoming increasingly snappy and angry about the whole search. The old hunter wondered if it was because the angel felt _guilty_. But then again, did angels feel anything at all? But, hypothetically speaking, Bobby thought, if he could feel, then his supposed guilt would be completely unfounded. Castiel hadn't been with them at the time and wasn't their babysitter. The brothers got into trouble all the time and granted, this was a hundred times worse than anything else they'd ever encountered, but they were strong and could handle it for a couple of days. Then again, it was looking like the search could go on for a long while yet. There were still no clues as to where they were being stashed.

Bobby sighed, rubbing his eyes. As he blinked, the hunter realised Castiel had appeared and was standing by the far wall with a newcomer.  
>The woman was stunning. She was about eighteen or so, wearing jeans, sneakers and a pale blue t-shirt. Her hair was a beautiful red colour, subtly tinted with brown streaks and highlights. It hung loosely down to her mid-back. She stared at Bobby with a superior, haughty look in her smoky grey eyes, enhanced by her perfectly done makeup. If there ever was an angel, this was the most perfect example Bobby had ever seen.<p>

"Bobby, this is Archangel Ariel," Castiel said quietly "She's helping to find the Winchesters."

"And save their stupid asses," Ariel added with a toss of her head.

Bobby muttered under his breath, "Nice to meet you, too."

Ariel rolled her eyes, one hand on her hip, "I've got an idea of where they might be, if either of you are interested to know."

Bobby instantly looked up, extremely interested. Maybe this search would actually end quicker than he'd thought. Maybe he'd get those boys back in one piece, or as close to it as possible.

"I'm not sure exactly, so I'll have to make sure before I go storming in there. I want to be prepared. But hopefully it won't take me too long," Ariel continued in a high-and-mighty tone "I have got the general idea of where they might be. It's tricky because they're being shielded by the marks Castiel placed on them, plus Maria and all her demonic wards. I'll keep searching."

And with that, Ariel vanished in a fluttering of feathers and wings. Bobby glanced at Castiel, who looked strangely dejected.

"How long until she knows for sure?"

Castiel shrugged, and Bobby raised an eyebrow. Something was seriously wrong with the angel. It was obvious. But before the hunter could even contemplate saying something to Castiel about it, the angel shot him a glance. And there, Bobby found his answer. Castiel felt guilty. He knew it wasn't his fault but since when did that ever make the guilt lessen? The angel felt as if he should have done something more to protect them.

Castiel vanished, leaving Bobby alone with his thoughts.

**/\/\**

"Rise and shine Dean, my darling!"

Dean swore at the 'wake-up' call, "Not like I got any fucking sleep."

The hunter had spent the night cramped up and with a mother of a headache. It was still tingling in the back of his head and in his temples, threatening to reappear when he moved. He knew Maria would be coming soon to haul his ass out of the cell and take him to Sam.

"Speak of the devil," Dean muttered as he heard footsteps approaching his door. The creak of metal on metal rang out loudly as the door screeched open and Dean could finally get the legroom to twist around onto his back and into a more comfortable position. His headache flared up, pounding at his skull violently and the hunter groaned, glaring at Maria.

"Hi Dean. Wanna see Sammy today?"

"I'd love to. Mind helping me up?" Dean shot back.

A moment later he felt the demon power exerted over his body lift him to his feet. Maria forced him to walk down the hall, but instead of their usual left turn, Maria kept him walking straight forward. She kept him going down the corridor until they reached a more dimly lit section of the bunker (as Dean had taken to calling it. The Bunker of Demonic Doom was his affectionate name for it). A few turns later, and the pair stopped. The door they were outside was different to the others Dean had passed. These were huge, solid metal double doors, much like a warehouse's doors. Dean could see the track they slid open on, and Maria used her demonic powers to effortlessly open one side. She pushed him into the darkened room and slid the door shut behind him.

Dean looked around now that Maria's power over him had ceased, but it was useless. It was deep black wherever he looked and there wasn't even the slightest sound he could hear. If Sam was here, he was being extremely quiet about it. What the hell did Maria have planned for him?

Slowly the lights began to turn on. They faded in until the massive room was dim and barely lit. Dean adjusted to the new low light and looked around properly. In front of him was a tall metal wall. There was no way he could scale it. But to either side, the wall stretched out in a long tunnel, and then each end turned off in their own corridor. It quickly dawned on Dean that he knew where he was.

"You wanna see Sam?" Maria's voice called out into the air "Go find him."

"I'm a rat," Dean sighed, trying to decide between left or right "A rat, in one goddamn huge maze."

In the end, he shrugged and went with right. It didn't really matter much, did it? Not like he knew where he was going. As he reached the end and turned, he paused.

"Sam?"

He waited, but got nothing in return. Dean continued down the corridor until he met a crossroads. Left, right, or straight ahead? With a frustrated sigh, the hunter kept going forwards, calling out his brother's name every few seconds before waiting for a reply. As he ran deeper into the massive metal maze, Dean heard the faint sound of someone out in the low light.

"Sammy? That you?"

Just a faint scrabbling noise answered him. Then, as Dean chose a left-hand turn and jogged down the corridor, a muffled voice echoed.

"I'm comin' Sam. Keep calling," Dean yelled out into the maze, ducking down another tunnel and running towards his brother.

"Mmm-ff," came the response, aided by more scrabbling and muffled banging.

As Dean skidded around a right turn, he ran into a widened corridor. A little way off, the shadowy figure of Sam sat on the floor kicking at the wall with his bound feet. Dean ran to him and dropped to his knees beside his brother. Closer, it became apparent that Sam was tied hand and foot, and was also blindfolded and gagged.

"Sam, you okay?" Dean asked as he reached for the blindfold.

A savage growl echoed out of nowhere, startling Dean and making Sam freeze. Dean could see his brother's heart beating a million miles an hour, even in the dim light. He put a hand on Sam's arm to calm him down, assure him that he was actually there. The growl lowered and faded slowly, Dean looking around for the source.

"You take that blindfold off, and I'll make sure Sam never sees again," Maria's voice called out, ghostly and disconnected.

"What about the gag?" Dean yelled, feeling Sam lean against him still shaking.

"Fine. But I can see you, Dean. Don't screw up. You wouldn't Sam to be permanently blind because you couldn't do as you were told."

Dean swore under his breath as he untied the gag. Sam spat it out, coughing and breathing heavily.

"You alright?" Dean asked, grabbing Sam's shoulders and shaking him. The younger nodded, "Yeah, guess so."

Dean set to work freeing his brother from the rope around his wrists and ankles. Within seconds Sam was free – relatively – and Dean helped him stand.

"Where are we?"

Dean shrugged, "It's like a giant maze."

"I don't suppose you remember the way out?" Sam asked, gripping Dean's arm tightly as he tried to keep calm and steady on his feet.

The older hunter paused, thinking back, "Nope."

"I didn't see that one coming," Sam said dryly, forcing out a laugh. Dean rolled his eyes and looked around. He could remember the last two or three turns, but before that…

He grabbed Sam's hand and dragged him down the way he'd come, the younger yelping in surprise and pain as Dean swung around the corner and didn't compensate for his brother's weight behind him. Sam slammed into the wall and dropped to his knees, wincing. Dean swore and stopped.

"For Christ's sake Dean!" Sam snapped as he grabbed his stomach "Be careful! I can't see, remember?"

"Sor… are you alright?" Dean knelt down beside his brother. Sam pushed his hand away and hissed in pain. He protested again as Dean pressed a hand against his stomach, but the elder ignored him.

"Come on Sam, what the hell'd he do to you?"

As he spoke, the light level suddenly switched from low dim light to warning red. It was considerably brighter now, despite the dark tone of the red. Dean pushed Sam's t-shirt up to his chest to get a better look at whatever damage had been done to his brother's stomach.

"I'm fine," Sam insisted as Dean swore at the mass of bruising across his upper abdomen, a collection of fist-shaped marks dealt by Rafe. He was still pissed at being told to back off, it seemed.

"You might want to hurry up," Maria's disembodied voice resounded "I've got someone to keep you moving. Slow down for too long and he'll make sure you keep up the pace."

The low, dark growl echoed once again, this time uncomfortably close. Dean swallowed, knowing exactly what Maria had sent after them. He pulled Sam to his feet, this time putting an arm around his brother's shoulder before starting to move.

"Come on, we're gonna get out of this. Don't stop, Sam," Dean urged as he guided his brother through the turns he remembered. He quickly reached a point he didn't recall. He looked around, one hand running through his hair as he bit his lip and tried to decide. The new lighting didn't help his memory, and neither did the fact that all of the passages looked the same.

"Dean? What's after us?" Sam asked as Dean finally decided on one and ran down it as fast as he could whilst helping Sam.

"Hellhound, Sam. So don't stop moving, okay?" Dean hated how panic tinged his voice. Of course Maria would know one of the few things that truly scared him. Now the two of them were stuck in a godforsaken maze with exactly what scared them most. Sam was blind and he was being hunted by a hellhound. The light was low, the shadows long, and Dean had no idea where the beasts of Hell were.

The pair skidded through another intersection and raced down it, Dean hoping it was the way out. He knew he should have tried to remember the path as he was coming in, but he'd been too worried about Sam. And rightly so, he thought, as he looked over at his brother. Sam was doing his best to keep up, but he was limping and the main reason he was still upright was the fact that Dean had his arm still firmly around his shoulder. His breath was coming fast, both from exertion, pain and fear.

"You still going there, Sammy?"

Sam huffed as he stumbled and landed heavily against one of the walls. Dean went with him, cursing as he tried to regain his balance. Sam pushed himself back to his feet, wobbling unsteadily.

"Oh yeah, going great. And stop calling me Sammy."

Dean chuckled breathlessly. He looked ahead. They were within a few steps of another intersection. Dean hurriedly thought over his choices, painfully aware that a hellhound was probably bearing down on him at that exact movement. Just as he stepped forward, something heavy slammed into his back and he went down, taking Sam with him.

Dean went skidding halfway down the passage, past the crossroads. He scrambled to his feet, searching wildly for Sam and what had attacked them. In the dim red light, Dean could see Sam on the floor, back pressed up against the wall as he kicked out blindly (Dean would have rolled his eyes at the pun if he weren't so caught up in the situation) at some invisible attacker. Every few moments his booted foot would connect with something solid but Dean could tell he was missing most of the time.

"Sam!" Dean raced for his brother, dropping at the last moment to slide across the concrete floor and slam into the invisible hellhound. He hit it hard and shoved it away from Sam. One hand snatched at the creature, grabbing thick fur. Dean wrapped his hands around the beast's neck as it bucked and snarled.

He'd wanted to slaughter one of these creatures ever since they'd torn him up and dragged him off kicking and screaming to Hell. Ever since they'd helped Alistair torture him. He throttled the hellhound, almost sitting on it to stop it from escaping his grip. Just as the invisible beast's life started to fade away under his hands Dean heard a shout of panic and looked up.

Sam was fighting to get to his feet, but there was something pressing down on his chest – Dean could see the indentations of paws on his brother's shirt.  
><em><br>Shit. There's two._

Sam was pushing the monster back, hands out to defend and protect himself. He cried out as blood spurted from his arm from deep teeth marks. Dean swore and hauled himself to his feet, tossing the half-dead hellhound to the ground. He heard a sickening crack as he stepped forward and almost slipped. Dark blood seeped out onto the concrete under his feet. Dean didn't have the time to realise that he'd just cracked the monster's skull. Running on gut instinct, he ran for his brother.

The surviving hellhound leaped off Sam and sunk its teeth into his leg. Sam gritted his teeth, hands flailing and trying to pry the creature off. But it was useless; the hound shimmered in and out of focus and Dean shuddered in pure terror. It was the biggest hellhound he'd ever seen. He swore it was the size of a horse, coated in thick ebony black fur. Its eyes glowed fire red, almost lost in the red lighting. Dean's heart pounded hard as the monster vanished again.

"Dean!"

The sound of his name kick-started Dean into action. He leapt forward just as Sam was dragged off down the corridor by the leg. The younger hunter tried to grab at something; anything, but the walls and floor were slippery smooth. In a panic, Sam reached up with one hand to rip the blindfold off.

"Sam! Don't!"

Dean slid and grabbed Sam's arm before he could free himself from the blindfold. The hellhound stopped trying to drag Sam away, let go of his leg, and howled. Sam scrambled backwards into his brother as Dean shook at the sound of it. It was chilling, a haunting call that echoed off the solid walls as it died down. The click-clacking of claws on concrete resounded, the hound running down the corridor away from the brothers. It faded into silence quickly.

Sam was breathing hard, heart pounding like a jackhammer against his chest. Dean was frozen, terrified the beast would come back. Slowly, very slowly, the fear seeped out of him and thawed his body out. It was only ten minutes after the hellhound had left that he actually moved.

"Sammy?" Dean's voice was shaky.

Sam shook just as much, though he tried to calm himself, "Can we get out of here?"

Dean helped his brother to his feet, swallowing down his fear. The hellhound was gone, and the other… He looked behind him. He couldn't see it, but the blood pooled in a dark puddle gave him an idea. He was glad Sam couldn't see it. Hellhounds were scary when they were invisible, but seeing them was another story entirely. You'd think things were scarier if you couldn't see them, but Dean knew that hellhounds were the exception.

"Come on, can you walk?" Dean asked as Sam tested his foot. His leg was still bleeding, leaving a dark stain on his jeans. Sam nodded.

The pair started off down the closest corridor, away from the carnage and smell of death and blood. As they walked, Sam leaned on his brother for support.

"Jeez Sam," Dean remarked "You're really not having much luck, are you?"

"Not my fault I'm stuck with Rafe. It's just 'cause Maria likes you," Sam chuckled weakly "And speaking of that, what'd she make you do the other day?"

"Don't know what you're talking about."

"Dude, Rafe said Maria told him to back off because you did something."

Dean raised an eyebrow, "Because demons never lie, do they?"

Sam huffed and glared down at his older brother, "You weren't there. The bruises? That was 'cause Rafe was pissed that he had to leave me alone. So what did you do?"

"Is mouth rape a crime?"

Sam laughed, wincing as pain shot through his body, "I have to say, I'm glad it was you and not me."

Dean opened his mouth to reply but paused as he turned a final corner. There it was. The huge double doors that marked the way to freedom. Or at least back to the cells. Anywhere was better than the maze, Dean thought as he helped his brother toward it.

"I can see the door, Sam. We're almost out. Almost there."

"Well done, boys," Maria's voice called out "You had a little mishap back there, but you made it out."

"No thanks to you," Dean growled under his breath.

The doors opened slowly to reveal Rafe. The bright light from outside had Dean blinking and shading his eyes. The demon walked in and tried to grab Sam's shoulder. Dean stepped in front of him, defensive. Rafe simply sighed and sent Dean flying into the closest wall.

"Dean?" Sam called uncertainly as Rafe took hold of his shoulder.

"Hey Sammy-boy," Rafe called smugly, and Sam tried to pull out of his grip. Dean scrambled to his feet but before he could do anything, Rafe had his head slamming into the wall so hard he saw stars.  
>A moment later, he dropped to the ground again and slipped into darkness.<p> 


	4. Pain, Guilt, Hope

**Yay, more angst and torture for our lovely hunters :D It's just too much fun :P Anyway, thank you so much for all your amazing reviews! I can't always reply but I love every review and all you guys are amazing! Hugs :D**

They were _burning_.

Sam didn't have the faintest idea where he was. He knew little about his situation, having blacked out not long after being dragged out of the maze by Rafe. What he did know was that he was strapped on his back to a cold metal table, arms by his side. He knew he was still in the dark, the tight cloth pressing against his eyes. And he knew that his leg and arm were fucking _burning_.

He was alone. At least, he was pretty sure. He was more focused on the searing, burning pain that had started to spread throughout his body. It was seeping up through his nerves, setting everything it touched on fire. Sam gritted his teeth, muscles straining against the ties that bound him to the table. Sweat dripped off him as he struggled.

A door opened and footsteps indicated someone had entered. The sound was loud to Sam's ears and he flinched as the door slammed. A cool hand brushed his forehead gently and he leaned into it, the temperature a welcome relief from the heat that blazed through him.

"You should be more careful," Rafe's voice whispered and Sam jerked his head away in surprise. Pain shot through his body and he winced.

There was a soft chuckle from Rafe as he continued, "Have you heard of the Komodo dragon, and how it kills its prey? It poisons it with the bacteria that live on the rotting meat between its teeth. Then it just follows the bitten animal until it dies."

Sam heard Rafe move and pick something up off the floor; he heard the scrape of plastic on hard concrete. He tugged at the bindings, only to have bolts of fire shoot up his arm.

"Hellhounds hunt like that. Their poison seeps through the body, reaching the brain to attack it. The prey loses mobility. They can't move, see, hear, speak. Then all it takes is one final bite. Hellhounds love stalking their prey until the last moment, when it's too weak to fight back."

"C-c-cowards," Sam muttered through his gritted teeth, gasping out short breaths.

"Have you ever seen a hellhound?" Rafe asked "They're beautiful. Maybe one day you'll get to see one."

"Th-think I'll pass-" Sam hissed in pain as Rafe put his hand on his injured leg, patting it.

"Too bad," the demon said.

Barely a second passed before Sam felt the most intense, heart-bursting pain he'd ever felt. It raced from his leg up his body, settling into a pit of fire in his chest. He arched his back as a pained moan escaped his lips and he strained against the ropes. The moan became a shout as the pain escalated. Warm liquid coated his leg, sending more and more of the fire into his body.

"Sorry about this," Rafe said "Don't want you dying on us. Hellhound bites tend to get infected easily. Got to clean the wounds out."

Sam didn't want to know what Rafe was pouring on his leg. He was fixated on the searing pain that refused to abate, throbbing in time to his frenzied heartbeat. In the darkness, he had only Rafe's footsteps as warning before the pain exploded in his bitten arm. This time, the pain flared up through his chest to his head. He felt as if the inside of his head had just melted, a nuclear reaction stripping away everything within. Coupled with the fire pit in his chest and the total lack of anything but fire, Sam let out a noise that sounded something like a scream of pain crossed with a frustrated, agonized groan. He ripped at the ropes that held him in place, determined to get the hell away from everything. Rafe, the pain, Maria, the torture. He'd had more than enough. But he was stuck fast, Rafe's hand pressing down on his shoulder.

"Next time, be careful."

**/\/\**

"Oh, you really don't want to see Sam," Maria said, twirling a strand of hair around her fingers. Dean glared, unable to do much more in his current demon-controlled situation.

"Believe me, I do," he shot back "What do I have to do this time?"

Maria laughed, her high giggle grating as she sat lightly on Dean's lap, one arm snaking over his shoulder for support.

"Darling, that was a one-off. You don't _get_ to see Sam again unless I feel like it."

Dean was silent, eyes cast downwards at the floor sadly. Maria tilted her head curiously and stared at him.

"What are you thinking about, Dean?" she asked softly, covering a razor-sharp edge Dean would never miss. He shrugged, glancing back up at her with a smug smirk.

"I was considering appealing to your better nature. But I realised you don't have one. Probably never did. You can't possibly be this much of a bitch after just Hell. I don't know how long you spent down there, but not even a thousand years of Hell could make you such a conniving, torturous bitch."

Maria raised an eyebrow as Dean continued, "So what happened, Maria? Mommy didn't love you enough? Daddy hurt you? Maybe you were a secret, and you hated it. What happened Maria, to make you into such a-"

Maria never let him finish. She slipped off his lap and quickly whirled, punching him hard in the face. The hunter paused, working his jaw for a second before looking back at the demon with a smirk.

"Hit a nerve?"

Maria smiled darkly, leaning forward until they were barely an inch apart. She stared into Dean's eyes, the hunter returning the stare with just as much intensity. Both were silent for a few moments, Maria being the one to finally break it with a low whisper.

"My parents loved me more than life itself. They're the ones who set me on this path. They're the ones who taught me everything I know. Alistair was barely better than my parents. They kidnapped and tortured people for a living, finding the truth in a world of lies. So what else was I going to do when I died? I never gave up my job, Dean Winchester. I find the truth in this world of lies. I extract the confessions, I pull the truth out, I so utterly destroy people that even once I let them go, they have nothing left. And you know what?"

Maria stepped back for a moment, casting a critical eye over her captive. Dean remained motionless, though not through choice. At last she smiled again, her shiver-inducing smile sending a chill up Dean's spine.

"I enjoy every last second of it."

"Do what you like to me," Dean said quietly "But you won't break me."

"You're already broken. I'm just going to help you to the next step. You have nothing left to live for, Dean. So why bother trying?"

**/\/\**

The days passed in a hazy blur of blood and pain.

For Dean, he spent his days immobilised in the chair as Maria moved from verbal taunts to physical blows. She punched, bit, stabbed and sliced, and by the end of each day Dean was thoroughly exhausted from the pain. He could barely walk back to his cell, knowing that tomorrow only boded the same darkness.

For Sam, the fire refused to leave his body for days. He fought the pain, doing his best to force his way out of the bindings and escape the hellhole he was stuck in. But every day his strength faded a little more. A feverish chill eventually took hold of him and all he could do was tremble and occasionally tug on the ropes. Rafe came to see him often, speaking soothing words and rebandaging the wounds. Sam ignored him for the most part. He just wanted to see Dean. Make sure he was okay. And, he knew it was childish, he wanted his brother. He didn't want to feel alone anymore.

The week ended – at least, Dean thought it had. He was missing sleep and waking at all hours, never sure if it was day or night, early morning or late afternoon. Maria was obviously trying to confuse him by changing when she woke him, but Dean did his best to keep track of time. He was relatively sure that it'd had only been a week but it still felt like forever. He hoped to God that someone was coming. If someone would come and drag his ass out of this mess, he'd do anything. Maybe even say yes to Michael.

**/\/\**

"Have you found them yet?"

Ariel shook her head, red waves of hair shimmering slightly in the dim light. She had come to this small, abandoned house in order to work more efficiently. In Heaven, she could be caught. And being caught would mean punishment. Punishment Ariel was not prepared to have to suffer.

Castiel's eyes were heavy with guilt, though Ariel wasn't sure why. It wasn't as if he'd hand delivered them to Maria. It had been pure chance that Maria had managed to track the brothers down and take them. Castiel had had nothing to do with it.

Honestly, she thought, these emotions were hard to work out.

"I'm getting closer. I've narrowed the general area down to something quite a lot smaller. Hopefully it won't be too much longer."

She saw the look of frustration in Castiel's blue gaze, and sighed. It wasn't her fault she couldn't find the bitch. Maria was a sneaky demon, one that had caused Heaven a lot of grief over the centuries. Ariel had always had the suspicion when the woman was alive that she would be a danger, but of course no one listened to her. No one had stopped Maria from travelling down her path to almost unlimited power, and now she was a potential threat to Heaven itself.

"Where do you think they are?" Castiel asked suddenly.

Ariel glared at him, hands on hips. She wasn't stupid. She knew he would try and find them on his own, which was a suicide mission. Maria could and would kill him as soon as look at him.

"I'm not going to tell you. You'll just get yourself killed, and you're far too useful to be dead," Ariel said.

"I have to find them."

"Give me a few more days. I should have an answer by then…"

"They could be dead by then!"

Ariel had never heard Castiel shout. The angel had always been quiet, never aggressive. He barely even got mad. But this was different. There was something wild in him, something… human.

"I'm doing my best," Ariel said carefully. He couldn't hurt her if he got angry, but she didn't want to get him anywhere near that point. He could still hurt others.

"Try harder."

The archangel softened a little, "I'll find them, Castiel. I promise you."

Castiel gave her a quick glance before disappearing. But she saw the hope he held.

**/\/\**

Hot. Cold. Hot. Cold. Hotcoldhot. …

Sam alternated between burning fire and freezing ice. Sometimes he'd feel as if he'd been thrown into a blazing inferno, trapped in the heat and flames. Other times it was like he was frozen in a block of ice, unable to move, shivering and trembling with cold.

The one constant was Rafe.

As disquieting as that was, Sam revelled in the feeling that at least one thing in this fucked-up, hot-and-cold world made sense. Every day, Rafe would be there. Talking quietly, seeming to know whether he was trapped in fire or ice. He'd cool him down, heat him up, do whatever it took to make him feel that tiniest bit more comfortable. Sam knew it was disturbing, and Rafe only did it because he needed him alive, but it comforted him nonetheless.

But today was different. Today, Rafe had come and untied him from the table. Sam hadn't had the energy to even twitch as the ropes were undone and fell away. Rafe hauled him off the table, the pair landing in a heap on the ground. Sam yelped in pan, the best he could manage as he lay sprawled on the cold, concrete floor. It didn't help that today was an icy day for the most part, and he shivered from the contact with the floor. He didn't feel pain anymore – that was long gone. Whether the hot banished it, or the cold numbed it, he wasn't sure. All he cared about was that he was fucking _freezing_.

"Fuck," Rafe muttered as he pulled himself up off the floor and into a sitting position "You're heavy, you know that? I almost forgot."

His hands slid under Sam's arms and dragged the hunter towards him. Sam gasped as he was pulled across the concrete floor, the chill slipping over his bare back and worming its way deep into his body.

"So…c-cold," Sam mumbled.

Rafe managed to get Sam into a relatively upright position, his back pressed against the demon's chest. The hunter groaned at the body heat now radiating through his back and leaned in.

"You cold, Sammy?"

Sam, nestled against Rafe's chest, nodded dumbly. Wasn't it obvious?

"I can fix that."

"P-please," Sam hated how pathetic his voice sounded. Dean would hate him for it too. Dean wouldn't be in this situation. Dean wouldn't be begging. Dean wouldn't be so cold… Where was Dean?

Rafe leaned down to whisper into Sam's ear, his warm breath sending shivers of cold running from his body.

"I know someone who can help you. He's warm, Sammy. Warmest person to ever exist."

Sam somehow thought he knew the mystery person Rafe was talking about, but he couldn't think who it was. His brain was far too cloudy and confused. Maybe it was Dean? That would be good. Maybe Rafe would finally take the blindfold off and he could see his brother. Maybe.

"Would you like to meet him?"

Sam contemplated this for barely a second before replying, "Yes."


	5. Fight It

**Whoo, next chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed this, I love you all! I've taken some suggestions on board - that I never would have thought of, and definately make the story a little more interesting - so thank you (you know who you are :P) Please, enjoy the chapter and review away!**

_There he was. Sammy was just ahead of him. Blindfolded and lying still on the floor, but he was alive. As far as Dean could tell, Sam was alive and breathing. That was the best he could hope for. He ran for his little brother. He was going to get them out of this godforsaken hellhole. But as he reached Sam, his brother cried out with pain in a voice that sent guilt-ridden shivers running through Dean's body. Sam was suddenly dragged away from him, a huge shaggy black beast gripping his leg with its dagger-like teeth. As he was pulled across the floor, Dean reaching for him, Sam grabbed the cloth that covered his eyes._

"_NO!" Dean screamed as Sam ripped it off._

"_You failed, Dean," Maria's voice echoed as the massive beast released Sam's leg and wandered off. Sam was silent for a moment before the room was filled with his screams of pain. He clutched at his face, his eyes. _

"_DEAN!"_

_Dean fell to his knees as Sam's screams faded into silence once again. He stared at his brother as Sam sat up and lowered his hands slowly. He felt bile rising up in the back of his throat. Sam stared, bloody sockets sightless. Blood ran down his face and hands. Sam stood, walking over to his brother with slow, almost drunken steps._

"_Your fault Dean. Your fault."_

_Dean wasn't sure if it was Sam, Maria or himself that had spoken. _

The hunter's eyes flashed open as he cried out. Someone was laughing and it took him a moment to realise who it was.

He was lying on his back, chained to the floor. He couldn't move, except to lift his head but even that was hard to do with the pain flickering along what seemed to be every nerve in his body. He groaned, feeling tears still dripping from his cheeks to the cold concrete floor.

He'd been here for god knew how long. He'd been keeping count of the days up to the end of that week, but then Maria had come and chained him here. Now he had lost all sense of time. He didn't know where he was, how long he'd been there or how the hell he was supposed to get out. Maybe there was no way out. None that he would willingly take, anyway.

"You sure you don't want to say something?" Maria chuckled as she walked over to him.

"Fuck you," he managed to get out.

He could barely remember what had already happened since being tied down here. But whatever he'd done, his words must have been the final straw. Maybe he'd been down here longer than he thought. Maria swore violently, the first time he'd ever seen her lose her temper so badly. She was absolutely furious. The demon growled darkly and slammed one foot down on his right leg. Dean figured she must have put some demonic force behind the blow as pain slithered up his leg, hearing something crack.

He bit his lip, forcing himself not to cry out. It only seemed to piss Maria off more as she stormed over to his other leg and promptly snapped it. This time Dean couldn't hold back the slight moan of pain, but pain was becoming familiar. It didn't bother him so much now.

"You _will_ fucking say yes, you hear me?" Maria swore.

"Yes ma'am," Dean tried to pile as much bravado as he could into those words, but it came out sounding more like a whimper than anything scary or brave.

"Damn right. Now tell me," Maria said, her voice suddenly soft as she knelt over him. He was going to get whiplash from these mood swings.

"Who are you?"

A memory flashed up in his mind. Maria asking that same question to him. He remembered his answer, and he remembered her reaction to that answer. He smirked and replied.

"Dean Winchester."

Maria screamed in anger and slammed one hand down on his arm. Her power followed the blow and shattered the bones from the inside. Dean cried out involuntarily, wincing and biting his lip to prevent anything else escaping.

"Tell me. Who are you? What are you?"

Dean stared into her eyes. Hers were clouded by anger and rage, fury just waiting to be released into its next target which would probably be his other arm. His were clouded with pain, but still he managed to hold the stare and answer without faltering.

"I am Dean Winchester. I am a hunter. I will never be yours."

He heard the rage-driven scream, felt his bones crumble in his one good arm. This time he screamed as well, but as the pain dimmed, so did his voice. He trailed off to a coughing laugh.

"And what the fuck do you find so funny?" Maria snarled, hand positioned precariously over his shoulder. One push downwards and there'd be nothing left of it.

"I will _die_," Dean said, shouting out 'die' before continuing in a quieter voice "before I become yours."

He coughed, blood bubbling in the back of his throat and dripping down his chin. He glared defiantly at the demon above him.

"I will _never_ say yes, I will _never_ be yours and I will _never_ break. You know why?"

He knew his voice was fading. He was fading, though not the good fading. He'd vanish into darkness only to be brought back by the bitch demon to go another round of torture. But he'd be damned if he didn't get the words out before he closed his eyes.

"You said I have nothing to live for. You're wrong. Even though the world is fucked, I've got something to live for."

"What, Sammy?" Maria laughed, her once-high pitched giggle now low and dark "He's already agreed to say yes to Lucifer. In fact, they'll be speaking in just a moment. You have nothing left."

Dean refused to believe the lies that came out of her mouth. But he stored them in the back of his head to think about later (if there even was a later) and glared right back at Maria, despite his vision starting to darken.

"I've got everything."

He tried to say something else, but the words wouldn't come out. Pain ripped along his shoulder as Maria shattered the bones, but the darkness washed over him in a comforting, warm embrace. He let himself go.

**/\/\**

When Ariel appeared suddenly in front of him, Bobby didn't have to wonder what she was there to say. The flash in her eyes told him enough.

"Be prepared," was all she said before vanishing again.

Bobby nodded, swallowing. What condition would those boys be in when they arrived? Not that it mattered, Bobby thought as he wheeled himself towards the kitchen, because he'd do whatever it took to make sure those boys lived.

**/\/\**

Rafe's soft voice was whispering in his ear, and Sam had the vague feeling that it should have felt wrong but for some reason he didn't care. It was warm, and he was freezing.

"I'm gonna take the blindfold off now, okay?"

Sam just nodded dumbly. Now he'd be able to see who this mystery person was. Maybe it was Dean. Maybe it wasn't. Did it really matter, if it meant he didn't have to feel so hot-cold anymore?

Rafe's fingers worked the knot at the back of his head loose and gently, slowly, pulled the cloth away from his eyes. Sam kept his eyes shut for a moment, feeling the cloth peel away from where sweat had kept it attached to his forehead. He had been in darkness for days, and now finally he could open his eyes.

He did so, and stared.

There was nothing. He had to blink to make sure he had, in fact, opened his eyes. He found his eyes were definitely open, but all he could see was darkness. After a moment of panic, he figured Rafe must have turned the lights off. The fear he'd been keeping locked away in his gut began to resurface as he hesitantly asked Rafe to light the room up.

The confusion in Rafe's voice was obvious, "What? What are you talking about?"  
>"It's dark," Sam mumbled.<p>

He felt air rush over his face and concluded the obvious – Rafe had just tested his sight by waving his hand in front of his face. And he hadn't seen it. The panic twisted his gut, rising up.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Rafe's voice held just as much panic as Sam felt, and he shook Sam's shoulders.

"Can you see me?"

The hunter shook his head. Rafe let go and backed away, muttering curses under his breath.

"Crap, shit, she's going to kill me. She's going to _kill_ me."

Sam screwed his eyes shut then opened them again. Still nothing. The fear couldn't be contained anymore and he started to shake more violently than before. Now it was terror that had him shivering as well as cold.

"I can't see!" he shouted in his panic "_I can't see!_"

**/\/\**

Rafe called Maria through his mind, desperate not to tell her but knowing if he didn't, then Lucifer would turn up, find his vessel blinded, and slaughter him. Better Maria than Lucifer, right? The Devil's reputation preceded him. But then again, so did Maria's.

It was too late to back out now as Maria answered. She sounded furious, _What the fuck do you want?_

Rafe replied in a trembling, terrified voice, _We have a problem._

_What kind of problem? I thought you _broke_ him._

_I did. He's completely gone. Lost his mind, I'll bet. But it's not that._

_Then what _is_ it?_

Rafe paused before answering that question, _He's gone blind._

There was a long silence. Rafe waited in terror for his boss to reply. He was going to die. She was going to kill him.

_How the fuck did that happen?_

_I don't know! It must have been the hellhound's poison. The infection must have gotten to his brain and affected his sight._

_You idiot. YOU IDIOT! You just blinded Lucifer's Vessel! _Maria's voice screeched down the mental line. Rafe winced.

_What do I do now?_

When Maria finally replied, it was with cold, smug ice in her voice, _Stay there. You can explain to Lucifer why Sam is now blind. Have fun._

Rafe panicked, begging her not to do this. Begging her to help him. But the line was broken and he was alone. He ran for the door. Maybe he could get out of here. But Maria had sealed the exit. He was trapped. He pounded on the door, sobbing in terror.

"I didn't mean to!"

A searing white heat blasted through his body, and before he could comprehend what was going on, his vision went dark and he lost everything.

**/\/\**

It had been decided. Ariel would face down Maria. Castiel would take on any other demons that happened to be there and rescue the brothers, unless one happened to be in the unfortunate company of Maria herself. When he and Ariel appeared in one of the lonely corridors of the underground bunker, the archangel quickly assessed the situation.

"Two demons. Two humans. One with Maria, the other with another demon, lesser power."

Castiel sensed it too. Ariel couldn't tell which human was which, but Castiel knew. Dean was trapped with Maria, Sam with the lesser demon. He didn't tell Ariel, as he figured she didn't really care, but his heart skipped a beat as he thought of Dean being tortured by Maria. It had been two weeks since the brothers had gone missing – how broken would they be?

Ariel vanished, presumably to fight Maria. Castiel focused on Sam and went to help.

He appeared in a small, bare room. It was empty of almost everything aside from two beings. He recognised one instantly. Sam was bound hand and foot and pressed against a wall. He was curled up tightly, knees against his chest as he mumbled something repeatedly to himself. The other Castiel assumed was the demon. He took barely a moment's thought to raise his hand and slaughter the demon where he stood. The lifeless body crumpled to the ground having never even seen the face of his attacker. He would have been killed before he knew what was happening.

Castiel stepped over to Sam. The taller hunter didn't notice his presence until the angel placed a hand on his shoulder. Sam cried out and flinched in fear.

"Sam. It's Castiel. I'm here to get you out of this place," Castiel said, keeping his voice quiet and soothing.

He didn't understand why Sam didn't recognise him. Surely he couldn't be that broken down inside? But it only took one look into Sam's glassy, glazed eyes to realise what the problem was. The hunter leaned into his hand, his shivering starting to calm a little.

"You're warm," Sam said, the child-like voice sending a stab of guilt right through the angel "He was right."

Castiel took in the bandaged arm and leg, the feverish heat of Sam's skin. There was something wrong. He didn't know what, but he hoped Ariel would know.

He didn't want to leave the other Winchester while Maria still lived, but he had to get Sam back to Bobby's. Reluctantly, he pressed his fingers gently against Sam's forehead and transported the both of them to the older hunter's.

**/\/\**

Ariel was looking forward to this.

For centuries she'd been waiting to get her hands around Maria's throat. No one had listened to her about the danger the woman would one day become. Now the truth was in their face and Ariel was the only one with the sense to get rid of it.

She appeared a few paces behind Maria. The demon was kneeling over a deathly-still figure chained to the floor. Dean, if she remembered correctly. The demon sensed her presence and stood slowly, turning to face the archangel.

"Archangel Ariel," Maria said "They finally remembered you?"

Ariel smirked, one hand on her hip as she replied, "Everyone is a little busy at the moment. I'm the only one they could send to slaughter you."

Maria laughed, barely offended, "Darling, I'd like to see you try."

They both knew when the fight began. Ariel swung her fist out in a lazy arc, Maria dancing out of its way. They traded a few more half-strength punches before the pair started to inch the fight up a little. They moved their battle away from Dean, Ariel hoping the hunter wasn't dead. Or worse, broken. She sensed the slight spark of life in him, but it was fading.

"Been a long time, darling," Maria said as she blocked a blow from Ariel. The archangel smiled in response.

"I always knew it would come to this though."

Neither were using their power yet, angelic or demonic. They simply fought with fists and booted feet. Maria landed a particularly heavy blow to the angel's stomach with her high-heeled boot, leaving Ariel breathless for a moment. Then, before the demon could slam her fist into Ariel's face, the angel spun away and kicked out. Her foot connected with Maria's head and sent the woman reeling backwards into the wall.

The blows became more frenzied after that, each being putting more and more power behind each attack. Soon, both were covered with blood and bruises and neither were closer to winning than the other.

"A lot of work for a pair of hunters," Maria panted as she ducked another kick.

Ariel laughed, landing a series of solid punches to the demon's chest, stomach and face, "I think you know they're a little more than that."

"You can't stop it, Ariel," Maria shot back along with a heavy punch, the archangel glaring at the use of her name.

"Maybe not," she returned, slamming a hard kick into Maria's stomach "But I can try."

The fight seemed to have no end. But as Maria danced smoothly away from an attack, Ariel saw an opening. A small one, but one she took full advantage of. She spun hard and her foot connected solidly with the demon's side. Maria stumbled, Ariel taking the chance to knock her to the floor with a well-aimed kick at the back of the knees.

As Maria lay on the floor, bloody and bruised, coughing from having the breath knocked out of her, Ariel walked over with a smug smile.

"What are you so damned happy about?" Maria growled, struggling to stand.

Ariel placed a hand on Maria's forehead. The demon fought but as Ariel flooded her with angelic power, she screamed.

"I would have thought it was obvious," Ariel smirked as Maria dropped down beside her, eyes lifeless and glazed. The archangel stood up stiffly, muscles aching and sore from the beating. She walked slowly over to the similarly-lifeless body of Dean and knelt down heavily beside him. Just before touching her fingers to his forehead to transport them out of there, Ariel glanced at the vessel's body. Sad that she had to die, but it was a small price to pay for the safety of the entire world.

"We may not be able to stop it," she said softly, looking back down at the beaten Dean "But I do what I can."


	6. Put Me Back Together

**Thank you so much for all the awesome reviews! I can't reply to them cuz of the lack of internet, but I'll answer some here. Those I don't, I love you and all your amazing reviews :D**

**AngelisIgniRelucent - Thank you! I've never had a comment like that before, I appreciate and love it so much! I didn't actually think this was my absolute best writing I could do, but I'm so glad you (and everyone else :P) loves it!**

**DeansMuse - There is still a neat little twist to come that I think you'll like - Maria's little doublecrossing won't go hidden forever... :D And as much as I love Destiel, this story has none in it. There is and will be however, a very strong bond between Dean and Castiel, as well as Castiel and the Winchesters in general. That's already there on the show. But no Destiel ;D**

**MysteryMadchen - Haha, glad you liked that little bit I put in for you :D But there's still more to come - I'm sure you'll love what happens next :)**

**ja jestem kaczka - Thanks so much! My internet problem has been keeping me from updating as much as I'd like, along with school, but I'm glad you're still enjoying this story!**

**Now, I hope you all enjoy this latest update and please, tell me what you think! I might not reply but I love every review! **

He heard the sound of rushing wings before he saw the angel. Bobby turned his head slightly in order to see which of the angels had arrived. What he saw had his jaw dropping in shock.

He'd expected them to be broken. He'd expected them to be hurting and in pain. But as he saw Castiel trying to support a weakening and disoriented Sam, the latter mumbling and clinging to Castiel for dear life, Bobby wondered just what the hell that bitch had done to them. If Sam was this bad, how was Dean going to look? And how bad was Sam on the inside? Wounds on the skin could be healed. Wounds on the mind took a long time, and sometimes they never healed. Just ask Dean about Hell, and he still got that funny look in his eye and refused to speak.

"Lay him down," Bobby instructed, the angel doing as he was told (what a shocker, Bobby had the clarity of mind to think later) and gently lying the shivering wreck on the couch. Bobby wheeled himself over to get a better look at the damage.

From a quick glance, Bobby could see that Sam was feverish – that much was obvious. The stained bandages wrapped tightly around his leg and arm had the older hunter confused. They purposely hurt him then patched him up? Castiel had no answers and gave no protest when Bobby began to carefully peel the bandages away. Whatever was underneath them was their best bet at what was causing Sam's shivering and fever.

Sam panicked when Bobby's hands touched him. He cried out, the most pathetic and pitiful yelp the older hunter had ever heard. He swept his arm out to push away whoever was there, obviously terrified.

"Sam, calm down," Bobby said as calmly as he could "It's Bobby. You're safe, okay? You're safe. Nothing's gonna hurt you, right?"

The sound of the familiar voice seemed to relax Sam a little. He eased up on the flailing, but was still tense and fearful.

That was when Bobby noticed the blank stare Sam was giving him – or trying to. He was staring at a spot just over his shoulder and it didn't take long for Bobby to realise what was wrong. He swore quietly to himself.

"Sam, can you see?"

In hind sight, Bobby figured such a direct approach probably hadn't been the best idea. Sam grabbed at the hunter's arm, gripping it with such strength Bobby could feel his fingers going numb from lack of blood. The younger closed his eyes and trembled – not just from fever, but from absolute terror of the truth.

"A trick, a trick, trying to trick me," Sam muttered under his breath, tightening his grip further though it seemed impossible. Bobby tried to pull away but Sam wouldn't let him.

"Sam, calm down. You're okay."

The words had no effect. Sam shoved Bobby violently, almost knocking the wheelchair-bound man over. By the time Bobby was stable again, Castiel was holding Sam down and calming him. He pressed the palm of his hand against Sam's forehead and within seconds the hunter had passed out.

"Didn't think of doing that before?" Bobby muttered as he pulled himself closer again to inspect the damage done to Sam's leg and arm. Castiel simply stared at him silently.

The hunter carefully pulled away the bandages surrounding Sam's leg. Whether or not it had been patched up, they still had to know what damage had been done and if it was what was causing Sam's delirium and fever.

Bobby swore when he saw the deep teeth marks marring the skin. He had the suspicion that was what he would find on the kid's arm too. The marks were red and hot, but they seemed to be clean of dirt. Whoever had looked after Sam had done their best.

Bobby turned to Castiel to ask what he could do for Sam when the familiar flutter of wings distracted him. He looked around, almost not wanting to see.

Ariel stood in the middle of the room, holding up an unconscious Dean. Bobby felt sick at the way the hunter's arms and legs were bent at all the wrong angles. One arm looked as if there was nothing but jelly in it – not a single bone to support it. He was glad Dean was unconscious. The pain associated with those injuries would have been more than crippling. It would be agonising.

Castiel jumped into action, letting Bobby sit back and wonder just what the hell had happened over the past two weeks that none of them had known about.

"Ariel, I need you to see if Sam's mind is intact. See if you can heal him."

The archangel raised an eyebrow at being ordered around, but did as she was told. She passed Dean over to Castiel who laid the broken body of his charge on the floor carefully.

Bobby watched mutely as the angels worked their magic. Castiel placed a hand over one of Dean's shattered arm and a warm glow surrounded it. There was such tense concentration on the angel's face that Bobby didn't feel as if he should interrupt. Looking back at Sam, he saw Ariel with a gentle hand pressed against the kid's forehead. Her eyes were closed as she followed Castiel's instructions. Finally she opened her eyes and stared.

"Well?" Bobby asked, more harshly than he'd meant to sound.

The archangel whipped her head around to face him, but there was nothing but sorrow in her eyes as she nodded slightly.

"They broke him," she said softly, brushing hair from Sam's face "All the way inside. He may never come back."

Bobby's heart back-flipped before plummeting to his stomach. Sam? Broken? It couldn't be possible. But here he was, a shivering, trembling wreck. If the hunter hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it. But as he stared at the unconscious form of Sam in front of him, he knew it was true.

Sam was broken. And who knew if he would ever recover?

**/\/\**

Castiel's power was almost exhausted but still he pressed on. Dean had to heal. He had to be fixed. He couldn't leave his charge like this. He'd already abandoned him once, he wouldn't leave a second time.

"Castiel."

The archangel knelt down beside him and gently took his hand. She pulled it away, halting the flow of glowing healing energy that was running into Dean's torn body.

"No," Castiel protested, trying to tear his hand free, but Ariel pushed him aside. He stared blankly as she took his place and continued the healing glow.

"When you are feeling better, you can return to this pointless task," Ariel said heavily.

Castiel didn't move, "Why are you doing it then? If it is so pointless…"

Ariel turned her head slightly to look at him with sharp eyes, "There is nothing to say that Dean is even still in there. He could be broken just as Sam is. There's no proof that _either_ of them will recover from this."

"Then why?" Castiel challenged, getting to his feet shakily.

Ariel shook her head, dismissing him. Castiel knew what she wanted him to do and, as gratitude for her listening to and following his own orders when she had no need to, he vanished.

Ariel smiled after Castiel left her. She looked down at the battered body of Dean Winchester, sensing the one thing that made it impossible for her to leave Dean to die.

She felt Dean inside his own head. She felt him there, alive and kicking. Not aware, but certainly not broken. If anything, he was all the more stronger. Once his body healed, he would be okay. At least by hunter standards of 'okay'. He would live. He would be as whole as he possibly could.

And that was why she sat there for the next seven hours to pull Dean's broken bones together and heal them.

**/\/\**

The agony. God, it was intense. He opened his eyes slowly but even that much movement hurt. He groaned, the sound painful to get out.

"Dean?"

It took him a moment to realise what he was staring at. He was on his back, lying on something comfortable and soft. He was looking up at the ceiling of Bobby's place, he was sure. But it couldn't be. Maria had him. Maria had him chained to the floor, limbs shattered, taunting and tearing at him…

"You there, Dean?"

But that was definitely Bobby's voice. Dean blinked and tried to sit up to see around him, but the spasming pain that flashed through him had him lying back down instantly.

"Don't try anything yet," Bobby's voice told him "You've been through some serious crap."

"Tell me… about it," Dean muttered, wincing.

"Hurts?" Bobby didn't exactly sound sympathetic – if Dean listened hard enough he was sure that was relief in the old man's voice.

"You think?"

Bobby laughed a little, confusing Dean further. Was this all a trick? Was this Maria tormenting him still? It sure as hell _felt_ like it. He felt as if he'd been torn into a thousand pieces then put back together again like a jigsaw, only the parts didn't all fit together right and weren't quite in the right place. Haphazard, painful.

"Pain means you're with it. And trust me, if you'd been seen yourself over the past week you'd be glad about the pain," Bobby explained, his words not doing much to remedy Dean's confusion.

"What… what's going on?"

Bobby's voice became serious and suddenly his face was within Dean's view. He looked worried, exhausted, and a million other things all at once.

"Castiel and Ariel pulled both your asses out of there, wherever 'there' was. Maria's dead and so is the other demon that was there.

_Rafe_, Dean thought, not feeling bad about how happy he was to hear that news. It was a relief.

His thoughts wandered abruptly to Sam and he tried to sit up again, berating himself for forgetting about his brother for even a second.

"Sammy, where is he? Is he okay?" Dean tried to keep the panic out of his voice but he figured he was well within his rights to be terrified. Who knew what Maria or Rafe had done to him? He vaguely remembered hearing something about Sam saying yes to Lucifer. He hoped to God that bitch had been lying, or he'd find her, raise her, and kill her all over again.

"Calm down," Bobby pushed Dean down to lay on his back again, pain ripping through the younger hunter's body as he moved. He winced, but kept back the agonised scream he wanted to let loose. Not just from the pain, but from not knowing about Sam. He had to be okay. He couldn't be dead. He couldn't have said yes.

And he most certainly could _not_ be broken. He didn't know if he could take it if Sam was gone.

The look in Bobby's eyes all but confirmed it for the hunter, but Dean had to hear him say it. Had to hear the words.

"Whatever happened to him," Bobby said quietly, glancing away from him "It broke him."

Dean stared, taking in the words. _Broken. Sam. It _broke_ him._

"I wish th-they weren't dead," Dean growled, voice breaking up at points when he just couldn't keep the sounds coming.

"What?"

"I want to kill them," Dean said simply.

Neither of them spoke, the younger of the two closing his eyes for a moment. The last time he'd seen Sammy, he'd been bitten by hellhounds and beaten by Rafe. But he'd been whole, he was sure. He'd been terrified, hurt, afraid – but still Sam.

He remembered a name Bobby had mentioned earlier and opened his eyes again.

"Who's Ariel?"

"I am."

Dean lifted his head slightly at the new voice and saw the beautiful woman standing across the room. She tossed her head, red-brown hair shimmering in the light as she walked over.

"Archangel Ariel. I'm the one that hauled you out of there."

"Thanks for that," Dean said, and he meant it. After that torturous time down there, he would have been glad to have Michael rescue him. At the moment, he could care less who this Archangel Ariel was – what he was concerned about was his brother.

As if she could read his mind (and Dean wasn't so sure that she couldn't) Ariel put a hand on his shoulder lightly.

"Sam's asleep at the moment, upstairs. He's not so good."

"Is it really that bad?" Dean asked, quiet.

Ariel nodded, and a sound from behind the angel made her look around. Dean couldn't see for the redhead in his line of sight, but he heard the unmistakable sound of his brother's voice.

"Dean?"

The hunter bolted upright suddenly, yelping as pain rocketed through his body. Ariel forced him back down as he frantically looked for the source of the voice.

"Hey, I just spent hours putting you back together. The least you can do is sit still and not tear it apart again," the archangel growled, keeping her hand firmly on his chest to prevent him from moving again. Dean glared at her, then tried to look over her shoulder for Sam. Bobby had disappeared and there was the sound of his voice a little way off, soothing and quiet.

"S'okay kid," he was saying "Calm down."

"Hurt?" Sam's voice said, child-like "Dean?"

"I'm here, Sam," Dean called, wincing a little.

A moment later Sam appeared. Dean glared at Ariel. The archangel sighed and helped him to sit up, telling him that if he broke something, she was going to break everything else and this time, she wasn't going to fix it. Dean barely listened – Sam was all he was worried about.

Sam was knelt by Dean's side, looking up at him innocently. It took Dean a moment to realise that Sam wasn't strictly speaking _looking_ at him. He was staring at some spot where he obviously guessed his brother's face was. Dean's heart plummeted as he realised the awful truth. His Sammy couldn't see.

"Sam?" he asked quietly, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. Sam started in surprise but as Dean moved his hand away quickly, Sam reached up and stopped him.

"Dean?"

"I'm here," he said, reassuring Sam gently. Sam smiled, and Dean could almost hear his own heart cracking at the child-like innocence on his brother's face.

"Knew you were okay," the younger mumbled "Dean would be brave. Dean wouldn't be scared like me."

"You are brave, Sam," Dean said, feeling as if he was talking to a five year old. Maybe he was "And trust me, I was scared too."

"You're hurt," Sam changed the subject, blindly reaching out until his fingers found Dean's chest. He pressed his hand against it gently, .

"Yeah," Dean smiled. He knew the pain in his chest had nothing to do with Maria's torture as he watched Sam's blank gaze, so far off and vacant.

"But you're gonna get better, right? Dean's gotta get better."

"'Course Sammy. I'm gonna be okay, promise."

Sam smiled, and Dean couldn't stop the single tear that rolled down his cheek.

**And things always have to get worse before they can get better...**


	7. It Always Has To Hurt

**Thank you so much for all the support! There's still more to come, so don't think it's over yet! Hope you all enjoy this chapter**

"What's wrong with him?" Dean demanded after Bobby managed to get Sam to leave. It'd been hard work – he refused to let go of his brother now that he knew he was alive.

Ariel shrugged, "I don't know for sure. I checked him out briefly, but I didn't have heaps of energy just lying around."

Dean sighed, running a hand through his hair and wincing in pain. It just wasn't fair. He'd done everything he could to protect Sam – even gone to Hell to bring the kid back. He'd sacrificed everything to save his little brother, and now some demon had just taken that away from them. They'd swept in and stole everything that Sam was, leaving him as nothing. He hadn't been able to stop them, stop them from breaking down the one thing Dean lived for.

"Why isn't he afraid?" Dean asked quietly, gaining Ariel's attention. She looked at him sharply.

"Ah, that."

Dean cast her a curious, suspicious glance, "What do you mean, 'ah, that'?"

She and Bobby exchanged a quick look, one that sent a shiver of fear and suspicion running through Dean's body. That look didn't bode well. What had happened?

"Sam was freaking out," Ariel started.

"He was bad, Dean. Really bad. There were some times when he was okay – when he was mostly out of it. But then he'd wake up and we could barely control him. He'd scream and throw a fit and you know how big your brother is. It's not easy holding him down when he's screaming that you're trying to kill him. We had to do something-"

"What did you _do_?" Dean interrupted, confused.

"I had to let him retreat back. Into his mind. He couldn't deal with the blindness, on top of the memories of the torture, along with the bites and the fever I only just managed to keep down and heal. So I pushed him back further into his mind."

Dean was silent for a moment. He certainly hadn't been expecting that. How could Bobby let Ariel do that? To Sam? To his little brother?

"You made him _worse_?" he finally managed to get out through his shock.

"You didn't see him Dean," Bobby said in his stern I'm-in-charge-now voice, a warning for him to shut up "You didn't see how bad he was. And Ariel's an archangel - she'll be able to fix him up later."

"What if she can't?" Dean demanded, finally putting the question out there. He glared at Ariel, who simply glared back. Bobby opened his mouth to speak but the redhead interrupted angrily.

"Then at least he's peaceful, and not trying to tear the place down or hurt anyone. He thought I was trying to kill him at one point and nearly ripped my throat out with his teeth. At least now he's calm. He's happy."

"He's not Sam."

"It was for the best."

Ariel huffed after her last sentence and fluttered away, leaving Dean and Bobby alone. The former looked up to Bobby, desperate for it not to be true. They couldn't have hurt Sam like that. They couldn't. But Bobby just gave him a hard stare and left him.

That was the end of _that_ conversation.

**/\/\**

Dean was okay. That was good. That was always good. He was fixed. Just like that girl had said. She was nice. She was friendly. Like Rafe. He was friendly too. But the girl was nicer. She let him see Dean. Not see. She let him be there. She let him come and be there. She was nice.

The other one was nice to. But he was quiet. He didn't say much. Just 'sorry'. That didn't make sense, but the man seemed worried. That wasn't good. But nothing Sam did made the man feel better. So he stopped trying. That didn't work either. That was confusing.

At least Dean was okay. That was good. Very good. The girl was good to. She let him be with Dean. She was confusing sometimes, but she was still nice. She said funny things. Like that he still had things to do. Things to say. She didn't tell him what. He figured she would tell him eventually. She said it was important. She'd risked a lot, she said. He wondered what she wanted. But she was nice.

At least Dean was okay. That was very good.

**/\/\**

Dean didn't speak to anyone for the rest of the day. He didn't speak to anyone for the next two days. He was angry, too angry to trust himself to speak. He could barely look at Bobby or Ariel without wanting to get up and hit them. But getting up was painful, and he wasn't ready for that. When he was, he swore he'd do it. How could they do that? To Sam, to him? How could they make it _worse_? Of all the stupid, ill-conceived, idiotic ideas either of them had ever had, this was by far the worst they'd come up with so far. How could they hurt Sam?

Even Castiel pissed Dean off. The angel should have _done_ something. He should have stopped them, protected Sam, anything. But he'd just stood by and let them hurt Sam in ways Dean probably couldn't even comprehend. His little brother was gone. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to handle that.

Holding back his anger wasn't helped by the fact that someone had to look after him while he was healing. He mainly asked Castiel when he was around, but he was getting tired of him. He was getting tired of everyone. No one was helping, and they all had pathetic excuses for why.

His anger also wasn't helped as Castiel insisted on continually turning up. He wouldn't say anything – just stand there for a moment. Dean would open his mouth to tell him to piss off, vanish, disappear. And then he would. Just like that, before Dean could get a word out. With that sad, kicked-puppy look that Dean swore he'd learned from Sammy.

And that brought his thoughts right back to Sam. Sam stayed with him as much as possible. It broke Dean's heart to watch his brother, hurt by the ones he'd trusted. Sure, Rafe and Maria had done the most work, but Castiel and Bobby? Ariel he barely knew, but Bobby and Cas were supposed to _help_ Sam, not hurt him. They'd done the exact thing they'd tried to stop Maria from doing. Hypocrites.

There was that fluttering of feathers and Dean knew it was Castiel. Ariel entered with flair and style – usually in mid-sentence when she popped into the room. Castiel however was silent. Never said a word, which annoyed Dean more than anything. If only he'd just _say_ something. Anything.

Dean tilted his head to see the angel. He was on the far side of the room, pressed against the wall, blue eye wide and staring. Dean was sure he'd seen something similar before, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He waited, almost daring the angel to speak.

Finally, Castiel opened his mouth and, what a surprise, words came out.

"I'm sorry," he almost whispered.

Dean hadn't been expecting that. He stared for a moment, stunned into silence. When he managed to get his voice back, he tried to force a few words out in reply.

"For… what?"

The next words were a rush as Castiel didn't even breath between sentences, "I'm sorry Dean, I'm sorry for not protecting you and Sam, I'm sorry for letting you get caught, I'm sorry for not being there, I'm sorry for not getting you out earlier, I'm sorry for not being there to save you, I'm sorry for not finding you in time, I'm sorry for not being able to fix you, I'm sorry for not being able to fix Sam."

After that outburst, Dean was once again shocked into silence. The pair stared at each other, Dean not quite sure what to say. He'd never seen _anyone_ so upset, let alone that stoic, grumpy, moody angel. Not Castiel. Castiel didn't get upset. He got angry, annoyed, depressed. He didn't get upset. He didn't feel sad.

And he didn't feel guilty.

"Cas, you know it wasn't your fault, right?' Dean tried first.

"I should have protected you – Maria should never have been able to get to you. You and Sam are too important to be left alone and I left you without protection. You could have said yes, Dean. You could have gone through with the apocalypse."

There was an unspoken sentiment at the end of that piece that they both could hear, but neither needed to say. They understood.

_You could have died._

"Maria was one nasty bitch. You wouldn't have been able to stop her anyway – she would have killed you. And then what? I'm just glad you got us out of there at all. And trust me Cas, I wasn't anywhere close to breaking point."

Again, there were those unspoken thoughts. Dean wasn't sure this time if Castiel understood, but _he_ did, and that was what mattered. He knew.

_But Sammy was. I've got Sammy to live for and protect. But Sam…_

"If I had been able to find you, Sam wouldn't be in this situation."

"Cas, you couldn't. It's all 'ifs' and 'should'ves'. There was nothing you could have done."

Silence. Castiel and Dean stared, and in that moment it finally clicked in the hunter's head where he'd seen Castiel's posture before. On the dozens of houses he'd broken into to save the inhabitants, when they'd seen him.

And been scared. Of him. Pressed against the wall, as far away as possible, eyes wide.

"It wasn't your fault."

Castiel just nodded absently, not really listening. But then he turned the full force of his blue gaze onto Dean and spoke again, the hunter's heart ripping in two.

"I won't apologise for what Ariel did for Sam."

"_For_ Sam? She hurt him, Cas! _You _hurt him!" Dean shot back angrily "You made him worse."

"We had no choice!" Castiel returned, Dean started to fall back under the angel's sudden anger and defensiveness "We had to! Sam needed it! He was hurting himself, and Ariel stopped it!"

"All you did was make him hurt more. You did the same thing Maria and Rafe did to him. You broke him," Dean spat venomously in Castiel's direction.

He didn't expect the reaction he got. Castiel reeled back lit he'd been hit. And then… _damn, he wasn't about to cry, was he?_ Dean thought. Castiel lifted his head almost arrogantly, dismissing Dean's thoughts as he took a bold step forward with a dark look on his face. Now it was the hunter's turn to back away, pressing himself down into the couch he was laying on – anywhere away from that fury.

"_We helped him and you can't see it, Dean,_" Castiel said in a dark, low tone – not quite a growl, not quite a hiss "_She fixed him. I came here to say sorry, and maybe get you to see sense. But you can't even see past your own hurt to see everyone else's. Maybe you should look around and see the hurt that _you're_ causing._"

And with that terrifying last statement, Castiel spun and vanished into thin air, leaving a stunned and confused Dean staring at the space where he'd been a second before.

**/\/\**

Castiel had no idea where he'd landed. Somewhere alone, cold and quiet. No one to hear him. He dropped to his knees, head in his hands.

He'd done it for Dean. He'd done it for Sam. He'd _helped_ him. He knew Sam needed it, and so hadn't said anything. He knew Ariel would be able to get him back. So there was nothing wrong with making it easier for Sam to cope. Otherwise he'd probably have killed or seriously injured someone by now. With Bobby in the wheelchair, it was all the more likely. None of them could have taken that risk.

Dean couldn't see it. He needed Dean to _see_ that. The turmoil that was twisting his gut around was killing him. Dean was only stirring it, coiling them more and more. Making the pain worse.

He'd gotten the answer he needed when he'd apologised. Dean didn't blame him for Maria. He knew he couldn't live with himself if Dean blamed him for the pair getting caught and tortured. His Father knew just how much he'd been beating himself up over knowing he'd hurt them. He'd hurt the ones he'd sworn to protect. But Dean didn't blame him. Sam didn't either, but then again, did his opinion really count? He had the mind of a toddler at the moment; he wasn't really able to make decisions or form any sort of opinion about Castiel's guilt.

But Dean? Dean should be able to see what he'd done. How much he'd just hurt the angel who'd done everything to bring him and his brother back. He'd never hurt Sam. But Dean had just stabbed him in the back, tore him to pieces then scattered the pieces without a care. With just a few words, he'd hurt Castiel in a way the angel wasn't sure either of them would be able to fix.

He'd done it for Dean, and the man hadn't seen it. Hadn't understood the heartache Castiel had risked for this. He'd risked everything for Dean to say something good about him. Even just 'I understand'. Even a nod of approval would have been enough. He'd risked _everything_ for nothing. Nothing but pain and suffering.

Castiel ran a hand through his hair, sighing slowly. Why, of all the people he could have been stuck with, was he sworn to the Winchesters? The ones who never understood just how much he loved them and how he did whatever it took to make sure they survived and _never_ agreed to Lucifer or Michael. He would die before that would happen. Why was he stuck with the two most painful people in the world? Castiel didn't know, but he wouldn't let go for anything. The Winchesters were his, no matter how much they hurt him.

If Dean didn't want to understand, then fine. Castiel wouldn't force anything on him. But the angel knew that Dean would eventually see. He would understand. And when he did, Castiel would be there to pick up the pieces, the way he always did.


	8. The Truth Comes Out

**Hi guys! Hope you're all still enjoying this story, there's still more to come :D I had no idea this would go for so long when I started this - I was planning on about five chapters, and it's morphed into this. Something I totally didn't expect, and I have the feeling some of you won't have been expecting the twist in this chapter. Then again, if you have, then congrats to you ;D **

**Anyway, enjoy and review!**

"Dean?"

The hunter's eyes opened instantly and he sat up, wincing slightly as he turned to see his brother. He was glad Sam couldn't see him like this – it was humiliating enough as it was.

"Hey Sammy," he smirked, realising he could get away with that now without Sam throwing a bored and annoyed 'It's Sam' in his direction.

Sam smiled and sat down beside the couch Dean had yet to get up from. It'd been three days since waking, and he still felt like crap. Ariel refused to let him get up until she was sure his legs weren't going to break underneath him and if he was honest, Dean didn't really want to get up – just breathing hurt, his chest aching all the time. He dreaded to think what standing would be like. Sam put his hand tentatively on Dean's arm, blank gaze staring off over his brother's shoulder.

"Better yet?"

Dean shook his head, then realised Sam couldn't see the movement. With a pang of guilt, he replied, "Not yet."

"Oh. But you're gonna be better soon, right?"

"Soon. Promise. Ariel will make me better."

"Ariel. Nice girl, friendly," Sam said, almost as if he was lost. He fell silent, head tilted slightly in contemplation. Dean's chest ached worse when he was with Sam now. Watching him, so broken and confused, broke his own heart. There was no way of knowing if Ariel could bring Sam back from the abyss where he was currently stranded. There was no way to know if he would ever be even remotely the same again. Just that thought was painful enough.

"Something to do."

Dean was snapped out of his thoughts by his brother speaking quietly under his breath. He stared at Sam for a moment, not quite sure what he'd just heard.

"Say that again?"

Sam twisted his head to generally face Dean's direction, eyes still blank as he answered.

"Something to do. That's what she said."

"Who?" Dean's heart sunk, suddenly scared for his little brother. Had Maria got to him? As far as he knew, Rafe was the only one who'd been with Sam, and that Maria had been focused on himself – a fact Dean was grateful for. But had Maria done something to Sam that he didn't know about?

"Friendly, nice girl. Ariel," Sam replied, blinking.

He was damn sure he stopped breathing for a second. He hadn't expected to hear that name as the answer. _Ariel_. Dean forced himself to think logically for a moment. He didn't know what was going on yet – maybe he was jumping to conclusions. Because Ariel had been the one that had saved them. Ariel had been the one that had pulled him back together and healed him. She _couldn't_ be the bad guy now.

"What do you mean, Sammy?" Dean asked carefully, putting his own hand over Sam's comfortingly "What did she say to you?"

He was quiet for a moment, thinking back and remembering, before finally he whispered an answer, "Not supposed to tell you."

Dean twisted until he was sat up fully, swinging his unused legs over the couch to the floor. God, it was agonising, but he gritted his teeth and pushed himself to think and move through the pain. He took Sam's head in his hands and forced him to look up at him. It was so tempting to look away from those glazed brown eyes, but he made himself sit there, look into his brother's eyes. Sam was still blankly staring over his brother's shoulder, not quite sure where to look. His hand, having slipped off Dean's arm, floundered in the air until he found it again. He gripped onto it tightly like a lifeline, his free hand grabbing Dean's other arm. Immediately he was calmer now that he was stabilised, grounded – not flailing wildly in a world he couldn't navigate.

"Sammy, listen to me," Dean said through his gritted teeth "She might have told you to keep quiet, but if you do, people might get hurt. I need to know what she told you."

"Hurt?"

"Yeah. Bobby, Castiel," it hurt to say the name, but it was the truth "Me. Sammy, tell me what she said."

Sam bit his lip, fighting inside with his divided loyalties. Break a promise or hurt his brother? In the end, love won over friendship.

"Said I had something to do. You too," he whispered, the guilt obvious in his tone as he told Dean his secret "Had something to say."

Damn, he knew his heart just couldn't _take_ anymore. He'd had enough of the lies, or the _betrayal_.

"Did she tell you what she wanted us to say?"

Sam nodded, "Yes. She wants us to say yes."

"Dean?"

It took a massive effort on Dean's part not to tell Bobby to go screw himself, couldn't he see he was just a little busy here? Instead he looked up, fighting back those damn tears. Couldn't they just freaking leave him _alone_? Even when he'd lost almost everything, they still kept tailing him, hounding him. Damn fucking angels.

The look in Bobby's eyes was worried, shadowed. He looked haunted and Dean was pretty sure it was reflected in his own eyes. He let go of Sam as his brother twisted at the sound of Bobby's voice, but he let his hands drape over Sam's chest. He wasn't letting go this time. If someone wanted Sammy, they'd be going through him.

"I think we have a problem," Dean said quietly, then looked up at the roof "Cas, get your ass down here now!"

A moment later, an angry Castiel appeared a few feet away from Bobby. He glared at Dean with such feral anger in his eyes the hunter was almost afraid. But after what he'd been through, what he'd had to fight and still had to face, he wasn't scared. He was just as angry.

"I had the impression you didn't want to see me again."

"Well, the situation's changed. Your archangel's a two-faced backstabbing bitch."

The shock that flickered across Castiel's face was enough for Dean. He'd hated himself for even thinking it, but Castiel had brought her here. He could have been a part of the whole thing. But the angel's surprise had told Dean enough – Castiel couldn't ever be involved in something like this; a betrayal on this magnitude.

"What are you on about?" Bobby asked, voice hoarse and gruff from the lack of sleep they were all getting.

"Sam told me Ariel said that we still had something to do – to say," Dean explained, far too exhausted to be speaking "She wants us to say yes."

"To…" Bobby started, but he obviously got it in that split second when it dawned across his face. His surprise was quickly replaced by anger.

Castiel looked lost, confused, "But… she… she wouldn't…"

"Well, maybe you should think again, Cas, because she's working with the enemy. I swear, the next time she turns up I'm going to kill her."

"She was the only one I could trust…" Castiel slumped against the wall "All the others… I couldn't ask anyone else…"

"She screwed us all over," Bobby said "But the question is, what do we do now?"

There was silence. No one had a clue as to what the next move should be. Ariel was an archangel – Castiel couldn't fight her. Neither could two measly human hunters.

"The wards will hide us from her. We'll have to move," Dean spoke up, wondering if there was a way to fight Ariel. Because damn it, he wanted this bitch _dead_.

"We can't move you," Castiel replied "It could break something again, and I don't know if I'll be able to fix it."

"I don't care – we have to get out of here. Ariel knows where we are and how to get here. We move on, she won't be able to find us."

"Too late."

**/\/\**

Ariel swallowed as she looked around. Part of her hoped he wouldn't turn up, and then she wouldn't have to keep up this charade. She could go back and help the brothers like she'd promised, instead of skirting around the issue of Sam and his shattered mind, making excuses as to why she couldn't fix him yet. Another part of her was glad. He would reward her well for this, protecting her in the war that was certain to occur once this whole plan had finally worked itself out. And then she and he would be alive, while the other angels perished in a pointless war.

"You came."

A chill ran up her spine as she heard that voice close to her ear, hot breath pressing against the back of her neck. She turned slowly to find herself staring into familiar eyes, for more reason than one. Michael liked to turn up in the guise of his favoured vessel – John. Though the man was long dead, Michael could bend a few rules and make it appear as if he was that younger version of the Winchester's father. Of course, he couldn't leave Heaven, but it served him well enough there.

"Of course," Ariel replied, shaking herself "You told me to."

"I wasn't sure if you'd follow through," the archangel stepped back a pace to give Ariel a little room to breathe.

"I want to survive this war."

"Still, betraying the Winchesters? Castiel? That must have hurt," Michael smirked.

Ariel swallowed. When Castiel had come to her, asking for her help, she knew it was all but a death sentence on the younger angel. She knew he would do whatever he could to protect the Winchesters and she would be ordered to kill him. She was sure that was what Michael was here to do – tell her not to hold back, take whatever measures necessary to complete the deal.

"I'll do what it takes."

And as she said the words, and she saw the way Michael's eyes lit up, her heart sank. It was just what he'd make her do. Whatever it took.

"Good. Because I need you to go to the Winchesters now and take them away. I need you to _make_ them agree, right now. As long as one of them breaks, the other will follow. Sam should be the easiest, broken as he is."

Guilt stabbed at Ariel as Michael spoke, but she stayed silent as the other archangel continued.

"Castiel will try to protect them. Make sure he doesn't get in the way."

"He's your brother."

She wasn't quite sure why she said it. Michael turned his cold gaze on her and for a long while neither spoke. Ariel wondered if he would smite her right there and then.

"Sacrifices need to be made in war. Not everyone survives."

"Yes sir."

"Now, are you going to do what it takes to finish the job?"

Ariel sucked in a deep breath, steeling herself, "Yes."

"Good. Now go."

With that, Michael vanished into thin air, the tension in the air evaporating along with him. Ariel breathed deeply, shaking. She would never forgive herself. But this was for her own safety, her _survival_. Castiel would understand. He had to.

She appeared in the Singer house just as she heard the words spoke by Dean, and instantly she knew her cover was blown. She vaguely wondered if Sam had said something. She knew she shouldn't have told him, but _damn_ he was hard to ignore with those big sad eyes and pathetic puppy look.

"I don't care – we have to get out of here. Ariel knows where we are and how to get here. We move on, she won't be able to find us."

"Too late," she said.

Four faces turned towards her, in varying degrees of surprise and anger. Sam was still glassy-eyed and blank, confused. Bobby was furious and if he hadn't been in a wheelchair and she wasn't an archangel, she might actually have been scared of him. Dean was giving her a look of pure hatred, grip tightening on Sam and pulling him closer towards his body for protection. It was Castiel's expression that shot her heart to pieces.

He was so confused and lost, more so than Sam. He wasn't even angry – at least not yet. He was just hurt beyond belief. Hurt and pained that someone could do what she was doing. His first words confirmed her suspicions.

"Why?"

"Because it's the only way I'm getting out of this situation alive. I'm just finishing what was already started."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Bobby asked.

Ariel shot him a dark look, "It means, I'm the one who has to come in and clean up the mess that Maria made. This was supposed to go smoothly, but then she just couldn't do it. She managed to blind Sam, screw him up and then go all 'revenge-angry-bitch' on Dean when he wouldn't break. So I was called in to clean up the mess she left behind."

At the mention of Maria, Dean tensed and Sam pressed himself further away from the archangel he'd previously called a friend. He closed his eyes, perhaps remembering something. Ariel forced herself to look away.

"You've been working with Michael this whole time. Even before Maria captured us."

"You're a genius, Dean."

"That's why you took so long to find them." It sounded like Castiel was just putting the pieces together "And why you kept making excused as to why you couldn't heal Sam's mind."

"You need him weak," Dean growled, animalistic anger raging through his voice "So he'll say yes."

Ariel sighed, resisting the urge to slam her head against the wall. God, why was she doing this?

But even her Father couldn't help her now.

"I'm sorry."

"If you were sorry, you wouldn't have done it in the first place," Castiel said, finally letting his anger show through.

"Castiel, I need to speak with you. Now," Ariel said firmly, walking out of the room. There was one thing she could do, and she would be damned if she didn't do all she could to protect her friend. Gabriel would come back and _kill_ her if she didn't do what she could to look after his favourite brother.

When she turned around, Castiel was there. Making sure the hunters weren't in earshot and weren't trying to sneak away, Ariel bit her lip and began.

"Do you remember when you came and asked me for help?"

Castiel's expression hardened, "Yes."

"I said that you owed me."

"Yes."

"I need to call in that favour. Now."

"I'm not letting you take them. You know I won't."

"Castiel!" she burst out "I'm trying to give you a way out of this! In fact, no, I'm _telling_ you. I'm calling in this favour and you _owe_ me. So you'll do what I ask and not complain. And I will come and find you if you disobey this demand."

"I'm terrified," Castiel said. Ariel was slightly impressed by the amount of sarcasm he was learning – from Dean, obviously.

"For Heaven's sake, Castiel. I'm ordering you to back down and leave the Winchesters alone. Do _not_ come looking for them. Do _not_ try to stop me. If you do, I _will_ kill you. Do you understand me?"

She stared at him, desperate for him to see the hope in her eyes. She was doing this for him. If he died, she would never forgive herself – and neither would Gabriel, dead as he was. He had to back down and leave this alone. For his sake and hers.

"I can't do that."

"You have to."

She said nothing else, just walked out the door and left Castiel standing alone behind her. She swept back into the room where the hunters were gathered. Bobby was trying to help Dean stand, but the utter pain on the younger's face was agonising even to her. He physically couldn't stand – his bones were too brittle and weak to face that kind of stress put on them.

When she entered, they all turned to her, Sam included. He wasn't letting go of Dean's hand, Dean using it to lever himself to his feet. But it wasn't working. She walked over to them, and pushed Bobby out of the way. By the time he stabilised himself, Ariel, Dean and Sam were gone.


	9. Helplessness

**Hey there awesome people! Sorry about the hugely slow update, there's been drama with my laptop and when it broke a week ago, I lost the half of this chapter I'd been writing. Then I had to get through the first week of school and now I've finally got some time to write and I managed to get this down. I should be getting a laptop tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to update again sooner! **

**This is turning out to be _much_ longer than I expected ;P I started off thinking about four or five chapters, but then I decided to go with the blind Sammy and then Ariel and now I'm making this up pretty much as I go along :D Hah, I've got a general idea though, so while we're coming to a close, there's still at _least_ a good three or four chapters to come. Possibly (and knowing me, probably) more. **

**Thanks so much for all the reviews! This chapters quite angsty and depressing and horrible because I just love being mean to the boys :( Oh, and there might be a bit of OOCness for some characters, but because we don't really know how anyone would deal with this sort of situation on the show, I think I'm okay. Besides, I do try to keep them IC and I succed a lot of the time, and angst is so awesome and you all love it, so if they are a little OOC you can forgive me, right? ;P Love you all!**

**Enjoy!**

Dean knew there was little chance of being rescued. Castiel was their best bet, and Ariel was too powerful for him – if he could even _find_ them, which would be a miracle in itself. There were two options left to him and Sam then. Two options he didn't want to even think about, let alone have to actually implement. One was that they could give in to Ariel, and Michael and Lucifer. It was too easy. All they had to do was say yes. But Dean knew he couldn't do that. There was too much at stake to just give up now. They'd fought too hard, lost too many people, and they would have died in vain if they simply said yes to the angels. Dean couldn't let them win this one. But the only other option... he couldn't face it. Because the only other way out was to resist the angels as hard as he could, protect his brother, and in the end... who knew? Who knew what they would do to them in order to get their answer? It was literally a fate worse than death – the angels wouldn't kill them. But they'd do everything they could to force the brothers to do what they wanted, and Dean wasn't sure _he_ could take that, let alone Sammy. How long could Sam last against the angels? Against... Ariel?

He didn't know where they were, but he did know it was a basement in some remote place, as he could hear little noise throughout the endless hours. It was mind-numbing , the way the lack of sound and just his own and Sam's breathing was the only break in the dusty silence. Plus, not being able to move due to his injuries made him twitchy. He was trying his best to keep it together, because Sam needed him to be the calm and rational one. They needed one person to be able to make the decisions, and that wasn't Sam.

As Dean's thoughts turned to his brother for the hundredth time that minute, he looked over at him. Sam was hunched over beside him, knees against his chest and arms wrapped around them tightly. It was as if he was closing himself off from the outside world, creating a barrier through which nothing could pass, where he could just sit there and not have to panic about the fact that he hadn't the slightest idea where he was and he couldn't _see_ the place in which he was being held. He had his eyes closed, resting his head on his knees almost peacefully. Dean was torn as he watched his little brother for a moment – he was a grown man, but with the mind of a child and blind. If they couldn't fix this... Not that it mattered. If they couldn't escape from Ariel then it wouldn't matter that was Sam was blind.

"Sammy?" Dean hated the way his voice cracked and sounded hoarse in the dusty, stale air of the darkened basement. Instantly Sam flinched and twisted his head to face Dean, eyes blank.

"Dean?"

"Sam, I need you to promise me something," Dean said quietly, knowing that he was now possibly the biggest _hypocrite_ on the face of the planet. He was about to hurt Sam for the greater good. Now where had he heard that before?

"I need you to promise me that no matter what Ariel says or does, you _won't_ do what she asks."

"Why not?" Sam asked just as quietly, head tilted ever so slightly.

Dean sighed, "Because she wants you to do something very bad, and it's gonna hurt a lot of people if you do it. So I need you to promise that you won't do anything that she asks you to. Can you do that for me?"

"Okay."

"Sam," Dean said in his stern, 'big-brother' voice, needing to hear him say it and telling him so. Sam swallowed and nodded.

"Okay. I promise."

Dean was shocked at himself. He'd been berating Castiel for doing this _exact_ same thing not a few days ago. Castiel had hurt Sam in order to help him. Dean was going to hurt Sam in order to help others. If he thought about it, he was _worse_. But he didn't think about it. He couldn't make himself. He had to focus on keeping Sam safe, which was the most hypocritical thing he'd ever done and he laughed morbidly to himself at the thought. Here he was, judging possibly the kindest person on _Earth_ and saying he was as bad as Maria and Rafe, when he was doing exactly the same thing to his own brother. Because he knew that when Ariel didn't get the answer she wanted from Sam, she'd find a way to extract it. She'd do whatever it took to finish her job. And God knew Dean was sure Sam couldn't handle that. No one could face the sort of torture Maria had done – what could (and would) an angel do? An archangel?

"What's funny?" Sam asked, and it was that innocent tone that had Dean crashing all the way back down to the present and their situation. Which, if he were honest, _sucked_.

"Nothing, Sammy. Nothing at all."

**/\/\**

Bobby wasn't entirely sure what to do. On one hand, he kind of wanted to stop Castiel from punching his house to the ground, stop him from putting dozens of holes in the wall with his 'angelic mojo', as Dean put it. On the other hand, how was a guy in a wheelchair supposed to stop a severely hurt, pissed off and betrayed angel?

"Castiel."

"_I trusted her_." He slammed another fist into the wall with a savage growl, splintering the wood and the fragments burying deep in his knuckles. There was already blood from the other dozen or so times he'd punched the walls so far in the last five minutes, but he didn't seem to notice – or of he did, he just didn't care.

"I get it. People betray you all the time, Castiel, it's..."

Suddenly he had a whole lot of furious angel in his face and he wasn't sure what to do.

"You don't _get it_. Ariel was the _only_ person I could trust. She was the closest friend of Gabriel, and a friend of mine. She never believed in this war, Bobby. She wouldn't _do_ this..."

"But she did."

Castiel slumped against the wall, sliding down to the ground and cradling his injured hand to his chest. His face contorted with rage and anger and pain and hurt and sadness and a million other emotions that Bobby couldn't even begin to name. And suddenly he was crying, and dammit, Bobby didn't know how to _handle _this.

"What are we going to do?" he asked helplessly and hating how that felt. Helpless – but not hopeless. There had always been the tiniest spark of hope, even in those dark times when they had thought they wouldn't get out alive. There'd always been a chance. And Castiel was Bobby's chance. Castiel was his and the brother's only hope now. But he was breaking down, choking and trying not to lose everything. He was a mess.

"I don't know," he whispered "There's nothing I can do."

And then Bobby's little spark of hope was snuffed out like a candle by a casual breath, and the world was dark and there was nothing he could do to bring that little spark back. That little spark was as broken as the boys right now and he couldn't do anything about it.

"There has to be something."

"I can't fight her, even if... even if I could find her," Castiel coughed a little and Bobby was sure he'd never seen anyone so broken before. Not even the brothers had been this badly emotionally damaged before. They'd seen things and experienced things that no normal person should ever have to live through, and even _they_ weren't as bad as the angel in front of him. And if an angel couldn't cope, then how the hell was he supposed to?

Bobby opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a fluttering of wings. For a heartbeat he thought it was Ariel who had returned, and his hand tightened around the knife at his thigh. Sure, it wouldn't kill her, but he'd have a damn good time making sure that vessel wouldn't be walking anywhere for a long time. But then he realised it wasn't her, as a male angel stepped into view from behind him. From the back, Bobby wondered briefly if it was Gabriel. Stranger things had happened, and didn't he know it? But somehow he knew it wasn't Gabriel; somehow, inside, he just _knew_ God wouldn't be bringing the archangel back. He didn't know why. He just knew. And he was right – the angel turned just slightly and Bobby saw the different features that marked him as a whole new angel. One he hoped wasn't anything like Ariel, or he'd stab his pretty little face into oblivion. Honestly, he didn't have the energy to _care_.

"Castiel." The angel's voice was distinctly British and the broken angel on the floor managed to look up and through his tears, speak the angel's name.

"Balthazar."

"What happened?" Balthazar asked quietly, ignoring Bobby's presence as he knelt down and grabbed Castiel's shoulders to force him to look into his eyes. From the confusion in Castiel's eyes, Bobby gathered this wasn't a normal thing – but what the hell was nowadays?

"Why do you care?"

"I felt you snap. Your Grace is weak. We may not like each other, Castiel, but you're still a brother."

"Then tell that to Ariel," Castiel shot back, and Bobby had to wonder where he was learning this so completely human way of speaking. Dean, probably. The sarcasm and the bitchy replies were all Dean, he was sure.

"What did she do?" Balthazar didn't quite look concerned, but rather a mixture of concern and anger and fear. Fear of what, Bobby didn't know.

Castiel didn't answer, but simply closed his eyes and rested his head on Balthazar's shoulder. In the choking, sobbing silence that followed, Bobby watched as Balthazar's face changed from that odd mixture of emotions to one of shock and a stronger tone of anger slashed across his features. Perhaps Castiel had told him – angels could do that mind-reading stuff, couldn't they? Or maybe he'd guessed. Figured it out on his own.

"She was Gabriel's."

"Not anymore."

"You know I don't usually get involved..."

Castiel pushed away from him at that, though Balthazar's hand remained firmly on the other's shoulders. They were silent for a moment, so much passing between them through their simple gazes that Bobby wondered if they even remembered he was here. The situation was more than slightly awkward.

"I'll find her. What you do after that is your business and I won't be interfering."

"Thank you."

Balthazar nodded, "But your Grace is weak."

That was all he said before he gently pressed two fingers to Castiel's forehead. The other angel tried to pull away, but Balthazar wasn't taking no for an answer. A soft glow emitted for a moment and suddenly Bobby felt a hundred times more awkward, as if he was intruding on something he _really_ shouldn't. Then the moment was over, and Balthazar stood up and vanished. Castiel was no longer crying and Bobby saw the strength returning to his eyes.

"Are you gonna explain what just happened?" Bobby asked, not quite sure he'd actually get an answer.

"Balthazar. He will help us."

"I got that."

"Then why do you ask?"

Bobby rolled his eyes at that. He _definitely_ needed to keep the angel away from Dean whenever possible.

**/\/\**

"Dean."

The hunter jumped at the sound of that familiar voice – just not one of the few he wanted to hear. Soft, female. No doubt over who it was.

"Cut the crap," he said tiredly "We're not going to agree to your bosses demands, okay?"

"Please, Dean," the pleading tone of her voice floating through the darkness was a surprise, but Dean kept it hidden from his face, "Don't make this hard. You know I'm going to have to hurt you. And Sam."

"You already have," Dean tried to speak with anger, but all he got out was a choked version of his words. _Hypocrite_ drifted around in his mind.

Ariel was silent for a moment and she stepped out of the shadows and into the dim light that filtered in from the cracked basement door and surrounded the brothers. Dean protectively put his arm around his brother, who was leaning on him and sleeping. Sam woke with a start and made a sound of terror as he was suddenly pulled back into the world of the awake and the world ruled by darkness. Dean steadied him with a hand on his shoulder and whispered a few words to him. It took a few seconds, but Sam calmed down a little and settled back down next to Dean, muscles tense and face guarded.

"I have no choice in this matter," Ariel said, making Sam flinch in surprise at the sound of her voice.

"You always have a choice, Ariel," Dean shot back "You can always choose."

"It was this, or certain death in a pointless war. Which would you have chosen?"

"I wouldn't have condemned millions of people to death so I could survive," Dean said coldly, then shut his mouth pointedly to show her he wasn't saying another word.

"I'm sorry Dean," Ariel said, her tone hardening "But you're not giving me another option here."

The moment she finished speaking, she reached forward and grabbed Sam's arm. With her archangel's strength, she pulled Sam away from Dean and almost flung him to the other side of the small basement. Dean started and tried to get up, but his brittle bones and injured muscles screamed at him and he shouted wordlessly in pain, dropping back to the ground helplessly. He could still see what was going on, the others framed in shadow and light as Ariel walked to where Sam was scrambling to get his bearings.

"Dean!" he cried as Ariel wound her fingers in his hair and wrenched his head upwards. Sightless eyes closed in pain, Sam fought her violently. Dean shouted at her from where he was trapped in his own body, unable to do anything to protect his brother. He'd never realised just how useless one could feel, and this had to be the absolute epitome of helplessness. There was literally nothing he could do short of tearing his bones apart again to stop Ariel from hurting his little brother and _dammit,_ he wanted to slaughter that bitch again and again.

"Dean!" Sam was terrified, unable to see his attacker as she landed a strong blow to his back with her knee and left him breathless.

"You fucking touch him and I'll kill you!" Dean yelled.

"Try me!" Ariel yelled in return, slamming her knee again into Sam's back. And again and again, alternating between her knee and her fist until he was gasping for breath and begging her to stop.

"Stop it!" Dean didn't even realise there were tears until he couldn't see the shadowed figures properly. They were just blurry in the background and he blinked them away as Ariel threw Sam to the ground. The hunter coughed and choked on the floor with tears of his own. Dean glared at Ariel, which was the biggest understatement of the year – he put every ounce of rage and fury and revenge and vengeance he could find in his tortured body into that glare, and not for the first time he wished looks could kill. Ariel turned his head towards him and met his gaze, her own smoky grey eyes filled with the shadows of the room and the shadows of the pain she was inflicting. _She didn't want to do this_ and Dean could see it but _she was hurting Sammy and she was the enemy now_.

"Make me stop, Dean. _Make me_."

And with that, he moved back to Sam and kicked his side, effectively flipping him onto his back. Then she centred her foot perfectly just under his ribs, the chunky, pointed heel of her boot poised to strike. Somewhere along the line sneakers had been swapped for boots and Dean didn't know when but he didn't care because it was done and she was threatening to seriously hurt Sam.

"Don't," he choked out.

Sam was whimpering in fear, not knowing of the danger he was in. Ariel flicked her head around to face Dean, hair flying in a wave as he stared at him.

"Go on Dean. Make me stop." Her tone wasn't manipulative or cruel like Maria's, where it was obvious she was enjoying every second of it. Instead it was the opposite. Ariel sounded as if she wanted to be anywhere but here, doing anything but this. And Dean wished she was.

"Please."

Apparently it wasn't good enough, as Ariel turned away and stomped her foot down with just the right amount of pressure to cause Sam severe pain but not actually damage anything internally. The cry that Sam let out had Dean fighting to get up, forcing himself through the agony to _do _something. Fight. Save Sam. Kill Ariel. Whatever. It didn't matter. _Something_.

"Come on, Dean. You know I don't want to do this. Please don't make me have to keep hurting him," Ariel was almost begging, and Dean was on the verge of believing her and maybe giving in. Maybe. Maybe everything would be alright. But then he looked in her eyes and all he could see was Lucifer. All he could see was Lucifer and Michael and the apocalypse and Castiel and Bobby and... he couldn't. And it _tore_ at him to do it, but he couldn't let the apocalypse happen.

"D-D-D-eeean," Sam moaned with a pained sob, every breath an effort and a pain, curled in on himself and hands splayed across his stomach protectively "H-H-help-p."

"Sammy..." What the fuck could he say that would make this alright? "Sammy, just hold on, okay? Please, I'm gonna get us out of here, I'm gonna save you and I'll make sure nothing bad happens and..."

He started off quietly but as he continued Ariel walked back over to Sam and lifted him from the floor by the hair again. She promptly slammed a fist into his stomach, the same place she'd just dug her heel into. Sam could barely even make a noise of pain, just a squeak as he sucked his breath in and tried not to cry. Dean's voice got louder as Ariel punched his brother again and again.

"I promise Sammy! Everything's gonna be okay and please just hold on and..."

"SHUT UP!" Ariel suddenly shouted, hitting Sam harder as warning. Immediately Dean did as he was told, watching in despair as she threw Sam to the ground again and looked at Dean sorrowfully.

"For the love of..." she paused for a moment, then continued quietly "For the love of your brother, Dean, please just say yes. Don't make me hurt him again."

And she disappeared.

"Sammy?" His voice was broken and he was forcing himself not to cry anymore but it wasn't really working as Sam tried to reply.

"D-Dean..." Sam was shuddering in pain, breath coming in short, sharp gasps "Hur-urts."

"I know Sammy, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

"M'sc-ared."

Dean wanted to close his eyes and just let everything all end around him because fuck, he couldn't _deal_ with this anymore. But he made himself keep looking at his brother, as if doing so could make Sam feel safe and take away that pain.

"Me too, Sammy. But I promise we're gonna be okay. I promise."

He just didn't know if it was a promise he could keep.


	10. Understanding

**This chapter's a little shorter than I would like, and shorter than I expected, but I hope you enjoy it regardless. The story is coming to a close, but not before some more recovery time, some explanations, and brotherly stuff :) Thanks again for all the awesome reviews, you guys are all amazing! I've said it before, and I'll keep on saying it, because you _are_ awesome and the best ever! Anyway, have fun reading :)**

**Oh, and it's been a while since I've watched Supernatural, so if I've got any characters or anything at all wrong, please tell me! **

Dean remembered the last time he cried.

He'd been sixteen years old. His father had taken Sam on his first hunt and at twelve, Dean kept telling him Sam wasn't ready for this. Dean himself had been thirteen before John took him on a hunt and fourteen before he was allowed to actually hold a gun and shoot something. But John hadn't listened and taken Sam on the routine witch hunting, leaving Dean at home. When they'd returned a few days later, Dean was out of his mind with worry for his little brother – and his fears were well-founded. The pair returned with numerous injuries, but none worse than Sam's. The witch had tried to stop John by hurting Sam, and he'd almost been killed. That night, after he and his father had patched Sam up and the older man had gone to sleep, Dean had cried. Sammy was only twelve, and had been hurt worse than any twelve year old should ever be. _No one_ should have to get this hurt, regardless of their age.

In the years that had passed, Dean had hardened up and the only tears that came from him were squeezed out of him by pain. Now, locked away in that basement, with Sammy hurt so badly and he unable to do anything about it, Dean was crying. _Goddammit_ he couldn't _take_ this anymore. He _wouldn't_ take this anymore. The angels could go shove their war where the sun didn't shine for all he cared. He just wanted to protect his brother. He just wanted Sam to be safe.

Despite the agonising pain that shot up his body, Dean tried to pull himself towards his brother, lying halfway across the room. He hauled himself those few feet, slowly and painfully inching his way over to Sam. His brother was shaking from pain and fear, mumbling under his breath as he lay curled in on himself defensively. When Dean reached him, he put a tentative hand on his shoulder.

"No!" Sam yelled, pulling away and gasping at the pain that surged through him with the movement.

"Sammy, it's me! It's okay!" Dean called hoarsely, losing his voice from shouting and lack of water over the past few hours in the dry and dusty basement.

Sam started to relax a little but still kept an arm over his stomach and knees up near his chest as far as his tortured body would allow.

"I'm so sorry," Dean mumbled.

"M'scared. Dark, hurts."

"I know. I'm gonna get us out of here, okay?"

Dean shifted a little, balancing himself on his left arm. He let loose a wordless yell as he literally felt the bone snap in his forearm and he collapsed on top of it. Agony raced up his arm and across his shoulder and back. His bones were still brittle and obviously couldn't take any more abuse. He lay still, breathing heavily.

"Dean?" Sam sounded scared.

"M'okay," Dean panted through gritted teeth.

He wasn't sure how long he lay there, but eventually he heard Sam's breathing even out a little and calm down from his short, shallow breaths. Somehow he'd managed to fall asleep. Dean didn't dare move for fear of breaking something else, but soon enough exhaustion overtook him and he collapsed into a dreamless sleep as dark as Sam's sight and cold as ice.

**/\/\**

"I thought I'd find you here."

The voice was so nonchalant that it surprised her, and the archangel spun with blade outstretched in defence. When she saw the one who approached her, hands held up slightly in a gesture of peace, she relaxed her guard only slightly. She knew exactly which side he'd be on – neither.

"What do you want, Balthazar?" Ariel tossed her head, smoky eyes glaring as she lowered her weapon. The angel in question stepped further out of the shadows cast by the trees around them and into the soft moonlight.

"I came here to talk."

Ariel scoffed, disbelieving, "Since when? I know why you're here – you felt him snap."

"As did you," Balthazar replied quietly "Yet I was the only one who went to him. He could have been lost, Ariel. And you left him there."

The redhead gritted her teeth and spun on her heel. She knew it was a dangerous move, exposing her back to the enemy, but for the moment she sensed no hostility and she would always be able to overpower him. He knew that. He wouldn't try anything stupid.

"I had no choice."

"Why do you feel the need to justify it then?" Balthazar shot back, walking up to stand beside her and gaze out over the glassy lake ahead of them. It was one of Ariel's favourite  
>places on Earth – one she would miss, but was not worth dying over. The place was secluded and lonely, a quiet place to reflect.<p>

"Michael will ensure my survival in the coming war," Ariel said "And sometimes people get hurt. Castiel should have backed down."

"You know Castiel. He loves those Winchesters. And he loved Gabriel."

The words stung, but Ariel held back her anger and regret. Balthazar was right. They both had loved Gabriel, he as a brother and her as something more. But then he'd gotten himself killed while facing up to Lucifer, and now he was gone. _Gone_. Something she would do anything to avoid. All she had to do was stay on the right side of the battles.

"I don't want to die, Balthazar. I won't. If I can ensure that, then I will do whatever it takes."

"Anything? I know Michael told you to kill Castiel, but you didn't do it. Why?"

"He never told me to kill him.

"But it was implied as the obvious solution. So why didn't you?" the blonde replied logically. Ariel glared at him, hating how he could be so detached from the situation at hand.

"Don't you see what's going on?" she yelled "We're all going to _die_. I just made sure I wouldn't be one of the casualties. I protected myself! What's a couple of humans' lives to an archangel?"

At this, Balthazar turned on her, anger glinting in his usually passive eyes. It surprised her that the angel was fighting so vehemently given his usually neutral stance.

"Castiel believes in the Winchesters, and so did Gabriel. They _believe_ in them, Ariel. And as much as I _hate_ them, they are worth a hundred of traitorous, murderous archangels!"

"Watch your tongue," Ariel said coldly, but it was too late.

"You know what you have to do," Balthazar said "You just refuse to do the right thing. _Do_ the right thing, Ariel. If not for anyone else, then do it for Gabriel."

Balthazar left in a flurry of beating wings, and Ariel slumped against the nearest tree. He was right. She knew exactly what she was supposed to do – bring Sam's sight and mind back, if the latter was possible. But she was too caught up in her self-preservation to do her job. If Gabriel were still around, he would be shocked at her actions. Stunned at how selfish she was, how cruel she was being towards the brothers and her own – Castiel in particular.

She knew what she had to do.

**/\/\**

Dean awoke to the muffled sounds of someone coughing and choking, high-pitched mumbles of pain echoing through his head. He blinked in the dusty air, trying to figure out just where he was and what was going on. As pain flared along the arm pinned beneath his body, the memories flooded back to him and Dean groaned. They were in the basement, Ariel was trying to make them agree to Michael and Lucifer…

He started in worry as he tried to look around for Sam, dropping back down to the ground as his arm protested. He managed to roll onto his side and peer into the shadows. The last thing he remembered was listening to Sam sleep as he kept a protective hand on his shoulder. He groped the air with his free hand, but found nothing. Sam wasn't within his reach.

As his eyes adjusted, Dean saw Sam only a few feet away from him, lying on his back. Another figure was kneeling over him, one with a wave of bright red hair. That was the moment when Dean realised Ariel had her hand pressed to Sam's forehead, and his brother was bucking and whimpering and fighting the pain _she must be causing_.

"Sammy!" Dean called out hoarsely, surprised his voice hadn't given out yet.

Sam didn't reply, and Ariel ignored him and continued to do whatever it was she was doing to the younger Winchester. Dean tried to move, but was unable to do much more than shift an inch before falling back down under the pressure of his broken arm.

A moment later, Ariel pulled away and Sam went limp. Dean swore he couldn't see Sam breathing, but that didn't make sense because she needed him alive, didn't she? Then with a gasp, Sam jerked upright. He was silent, only his gasping breaths breaking the stillness.

"What did you do?" Dean growled.

Ariel didn't turn to look at him as she replied, "I brought him back – to the state he was in when Castiel rescued him. I can do no more."

"Nononononono…" Sam launched into a muttered string of 'no' repeatedly, grabbing at his hair and starting to rock on the spot "Won'tdoitnonononowon'tdoit."

Dean had little idea of what he was saying, but got the general idea of what was going on. Sam had been pulled back from the sanctuary that Ariel had placed him in, the childlike state that had protected him from himself. Now he was back to where he'd been once saved from Rafe. Now he understood why Castiel and Bobby had agreed to Ariel pushing him under the surface of proper consciousness. Sam was resurfacing, though he was still trapped just beneath the ice that barred the way to normality. He was still stuck in the recurring memories of the torture.

"Sammy."

"Dean," Sam lashed out suddenly, though no one was close enough to be hit "Hotcoldhurts."

He moved until he was pressed against the closest wall, and promptly began to beat the back of his head against the concrete. Dean called out to him, but nothing stopped the incoherent rambling that streamed from Sam's mouth, nor his behaviour.

"Fix him!" Dean shouted to Ariel "Bring back his sight! Bring him back!"

"He has his sight!" Ariel returned angrily "But I can't bring him back! Only he can do that! I can help him, but ultimately he'll have to heal himself."

There was a moment of silence between the two, broken only by Sam's muttering and repeated beating of his head against the wall. And then Ariel spoke in a softer tone, so quiet that Dean almost didn't hear.

"I can make him forget though. I can make him forget the torture. His mind will eventually heal over that scar, but if he pulls it apart he'll be right back where he started. It's all I can do. Suppress the memories and make him forget."

"Why are you doing this?" Dean asked "Why now?"

"Because I have to do the right thing."

"Help him, before he hurts himself anymore," Dean pleaded, and Ariel moved to do as she'd said – burn the memories and scar them over. They'd still be there, unable to be erased, but as she'd said, as long as he didn't pull the delicate stitching apart, everything would be okay. He would be okay again.

"I don't think so."

Ariel was tossed away suddenly and Dean looked up to see a familiar, haunting face. The eyes that stared down at him were full of hellfire and burning hatred. Dean glared.

"Lucifer."

"Nice to see you there, Dean," the Devil smirked and wandered over to where Sam was trying to beat his brains out through the back of his head, "Hey Sammy."

"Leave him alone. Leave him," Dean swore, trying to get up again but failing. In the corner of his eye he saw Ariel try to stand to fight. A sudden change from only hours before,  
>but a welcome one nonetheless.<p>

"Do you want me to stop it hurting, Sammy?" Lucifer crooned victoriously, and Sam stopped for a split second.

"Makeitstopmakeitstop."

"I can do that. You just have to say that you'll…"

Lucifer never got to finish. He was thrown away from Sam by some new stranger in the room. Dean jumped as he saw Castiel standing there, dark hair shading his face and anger flashing in his eyes as he faced down Lucifer and stood protectively in front of Sam.

"You will not touch him."

Dean had never been so scared of the angel in his life. Lucifer stood, sneering at the weaker angel.

"Get out of the way, Castiel."

"I won't let you harm them."

Lucifer shrugged, and advanced on the angel. A second of struggle resulted in Castiel on his knees, Lucifer with his hand pressed firmly into the angel's forehead. Light began to glow from his eyes, and Dean couldn't tear his gaze away from the horror.

In a chain reaction so fast Dean swore it hadn't happened, Lucifer was attacked from behind by Ariel. The archangel viciously tore him away from Castiel and slammed a fist into his jaw.

"You will _not_ hurt Casti…"

She never got to finish. Lucifer slammed his hand into her face and light burst forth from her.

"Get out of here!" she managed to scream as Dean ducked his head to avoid the blazing light. As the light surrounded him and Dean was sure he was going to end up as blind as Sam had been, he felt someone grab his shoulder, and the uncomfortable sensation he'd never grow used to – the feeling of being zapped somewhere by an angel.

He didn't even get his eyes open again before he passed out.


	11. Strong

**The Last Chapter.**

**That's right. This is the last chapter. It's been an awesome ride, considering how this fic started out. It began as a random idea, _hey, what about some serious Sammy-Dean torture. Cas can save them. Sounds cool_, which then became... well, this. In the beginning it was a four or five chapter fic that ended wth Cas busting in to save their asses and fix them up. In fact, Dean was actually going to be the one to break, not Sam. And Ariel was never part of it. Neither was Balty, or the whole blind/child/crazy Sammy. See what you reviewers do to me? I make up all this crazy stuff! But hey, I'm glad you gave me some of those ideas. This was a really fun fic to write, mainly because I'm a horrible person that loves writing torture scenes ;P And I'm glad that all you guys enjoyed it too. **

**But now it's time for the boys to sign off. Enjoy this last chapter!**

Hellfire and burning pain ripped through him. God, how he just wanted to scream his heart out; maybe it would stop the agony that was charring every nerve, burning its way through his body. But he was soundless, unable to make a noise as he writhed and twisted, fighting the pain. His head throbbed in time with his frantic heart, pulsing fire around his body. There was no escape, no refuge – nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

He just wanted it to_ stop._

**/\/\**

"Dean?"

That voice. It was familiar, tinged with worry and fear. Where had he heard that voice before?

Oh right. Castiel.

Dean blinked his eyes open, light assaulting him all at once. He groaned and tried to sit up, but was pushed down onto his back again by a firm hand on his shoulder. It took him a moment to realise he was actually quite numb, with only little feeling in his body at all. Dean couldn't hold back the small smile. It was certainly a change, and one he could definitely get used to. He'd pick numb over intense agony any day. As his vision cleared, Dean saw a familiar sight – the ceiling of Bobby's house. Castiel stood above him, looking down with worried blue eyes.

"Dean? Can you feel anything?"

Dean chuckled lightly, "Not really. Whatever you did, do it more often."

He tried to sit up again, and this time Castiel helped him up carefully, warning him that if he moved too much then bones could still fracture despite the time they'd had to heal. Dean frowned in confusion at that.

"How long have I been out?"

"About three weeks," Castiel replied.

Dean took that in slowly, shocked. Three weeks was a long time to be out of it. He pondered that for a moment, letting his thoughts run away with him. Soon enough, they turned to the one thing he was worried about the most. He grabbed Castiel's arm and stared at him.

"Where's Sam? Is he okay?"

Castiel pulled his arm out of Dean's grip and moved away a little. Dean looked past him to see his brother, lying asleep on the bed next to him. He looked so peaceful, with eyes closed and chest rising and falling slowly. There was no sign of the torture he'd been through. Not a single sign of the broken mind that might still lie behind the sleeping face.

Castiel, seeming to sense where Dean's train of thought was going, spoke quietly to reassure Dean.

"Balthazar did what he could. We're…we're hopeful that he will be fine."

"Balthazar?" Dean asked, tired from confusion.

"That would be me," a British accented voice said as the angel in question walked into the room. Dean looked up for a moment to see the blonde angel striding in, seemingly cocky and self-assured. He moved over to Sam, brushing the hair out of the Winchester's eyes and pressing his palm against the other's forehead. He concentrated for a moment before pulling away.

"As far as I can tell, he's healing well."

"What did you do?" Dean asked, caution entering his tone. The last time they'd trusted an angel who'd just waltzed in like that hadn't ended well at all.

Balthazar looked at him curiously, "I put up some walls in his mind, if you will. As long as he doesn't start exploring up there they should hold."

"So he won't remember?"

The blonde angel shook his head, "He shouldn't."

Dean sighed in relief and collapsed back onto the bed. Sam was going to be okay. He wouldn't remember any of it. He wasn't blind, he wasn't broken.

_Sammy's going to be okay._

"What happened to Ariel?" Dean asked suddenly, remembering the rescue. Ariel, fixing Sam like that. Jumping in to save Castiel from Lucifer. The blinding light tearing forth from her eyes and mouth. The way she'd screamed at them to run, like she'd changed…

Castiel breathed in a cautious breath, "Lucifer killed her. I managed to bring you and Sam here so Balthazar and I could heal you while he was…preoccupied."

"She's dead?" Dean wasn't sure what to feel. Happy that the bitch who'd hurt Sam so bad was dead? Saddened by the fact that something in her had snapped and she'd  
>tried to help them, and gotten killed for it? He was a mixture of emotions, all of them dulled by the numb feeling spread throughout him. Exhaustion was starting to<br>return to him, and Dean tried to keep his eyes open but found he couldn't.

He drifted off into a warm, unfeeling sleep where finally everything was okay.

**/\/\**

When Dean awoke again it was to a sound he'd hoped he wouldn't have to hear again. He shot upright, sweat shining in the low light filtering in through the window. Twisting to his left, he saw Balthazar and Bobby trying to calm down a raging, screaming Sam. The younger Winchester fought hard as Balthazar tried to hold him down and send him back to sleep. He was having none of it, kicking, flailing and screaming at the top of his lungs, a sound of absolute pain and agony. Bobby flicked a glance over to Dean when he noticed the other hunter was awake, and wheeled himself over to let Balthazar deal with Sam.

"What's happening?" Dean asked, feeling helpless and lost. He didn't what was going on, or how to fix it, how to make Sam better and not hurt anymore. It was so frustrating to have to sit back and watch. "I thought you said he was okay!"

"He's pushing at the walls," Balthazar growled, forcing Sam down onto the bed and slamming a palm into the Winchester's forehead "If he's not careful he's going to end up like this permanently."

A moment later Sam began to calm down, no longer screaming or fighting. He relaxed and went limp, arm dropping over the side of the bed and eyes closing. But Dean could still see his chest shaking as Sam sobbed silently, tears of pain leaking from behind closed eyelids.

"You were supposed to fix him," Dean said as Balthazar turned to him and glared.

"I can't do everything," he snapped "I did what I could. I put up the walls. It's his fault that he's pushing at them. I don't normally do this kind of stuff – that's Ariel's field. But they should hold, _if_ he doesn't keep fighting the walls."

"If he does…" Dean didn't want to know. But had to. He had to know what was going to happen if Sam kept fighting like a true Winchester against the unnatural blocks in his mind, Balthazar shrugged.

"I don't think I'll be able to put them back up if they fall; his mind's too damaged for another attempt. He'll be like _that_ permanently," the angel said "There won't be anything anyone can do about it."

Dean felt Bobby's comforting hand on his arm, "He'll be fine. He's a strong kid."

"That's what's killing him," Balthazar had the gall to say with a nonchalant shrug before vanishing out of the room. Dean glared at the spot the angel had just been occupying. He really did hate angels. Castiel was okay, and Gabriel had been a relatively decent one – if you looked past the whole TV Land incident and the Trickster phases… But all the rest were basically traitors, liars, backstabbers, untrustworthy, cruel and self-absorbed. Zachariah, Michael, Uriel, even Anna. Ariel. Not a single one of them could be trusted. Dean was tempted to think that Balthazar was alright because Castiel believed in him – but they knew how that had ended last time, didn't they? The results were sitting right in front of them, in utter agony and sobbing from the pain, but unable to wake until he was fully healed.

Bobby seemed to sense what Dean was thinking (or he was really a psychic who could read minds, but that was too creepy for Dean) and spoke quietly, "Balthazar's a good angel, Dean. I promise. You weren't there when Castiel broke."

The younger hunter looked over at his mentor, the one he had called his father when the real one wasn't there, and stared in surprise, "What?"

Bobby sighed, "Castiel was convinced he couldn't save you. He was sure there was nothing he could do to find you or stop Ariel, because she was an archangel and he…well, he wasn't. You didn't see him. He was…just broken. He snapped. And that was when Balthazar turned up. He came and brought Castiel back from the brink. And from what I can tell, he likes to stay out of anything that might endanger him, but he was willing to risk his life to confront Ariel and rescue you two. He's good."

"We thought that about Ariel."

"Think about it Dean. Did she ever do anything to earn our trust? Balthazar saved your angel, Dean. Forget Ariel."

Dean sighed and nodded. He was more than happy to forget about Ariel. As much as she had changed, it really was too little too late. She'd waited too long before changing her mind and coming to their rescue, and what she'd done had only helped minimally. And as much as she deserved some respect for finally seeing the light and doing the right thing – as much as she deserved that tiniest smudge of respect – Dean couldn't bring himself to forgive her. He knew he never would. Trust was one of the most important things to him, and she'd broken it. And she'd hurt Sam. He would never forgive her, but he would forget her. At least as much as to forget the horrible things she did, but remember that small amount of goodness in her that had come to save them, and had stopped Lucifer from slaughtering Castiel. There were things to thank her for, and things to forget.

But never forgive.

"He's fighting too hard," Dean muttered quietly under his breath as he stared at Sam, starting to relax a little more now and the tears no longer flowing "He's going to  
>kill himself. For once, he needs to give up."<p>

"He'll figure it out," Bobby said, though neither of them were sure if he was trying to convince Dean or himself "He's smart. He'll be fine."

"I hope so, Bobby."

**/\/\**

When he opened his eyes, it was dark. The pitch black kind of dark that meant you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. The kind of dark that scared him the most.

He sat up quickly, heart pounding and struggling to heave his breath in and out of his body. He tried to calm himself down. Panicking wouldn't help. He tried to think back to where he was and what was going on. The last thing he remembered was the job in St Morleys, hunting down that witch… Things just didn't make sense anymore – like why was he feeling so numb? Why didn't that numbness stop his raging headache? What was the small niggling sense in the back of his mind that kept pestering him? He brushed the hair out of his eyes and breathed in deeply. He caught sight of a thin sliver of light coming from under a door, and that small yellowish-white band calmed him immensely. Shaking slightly, he hauled himself up from the bed he was lying on and made his way to the door. Pushing it open, he was surprised to find himself standing in a familiar hall of Bobby's house. Why was he at Bobby's, and not on the hunt? He pushed the question aside, needing an answer to a more pressing question. Where the hell was Dean?

He made his way down the hall and down the stairs, gripping the rail tightly as his legs felt like they were about to collapse underneath him. Slowly, carefully, he followed the sounds of familiar voices. Finally he pushed open a door and stared.

**/\/\**

_Sammy's awake_.

**/\/\**

"Sammy?" Dean stood up – Sam noticed the wince that crossed his face and made a mental note to ask about it later – and stared at his brother, standing in the doorway.

"Dean?" he asked, confused as to why everyone – Bobby, Dean and Castiel – were staring at him strangely, like he'd grown another head or something "What's going  
>on?"<p>

There was a moment of silence as the brothers locked eyes. Sam saw the fear in Dean's eyes replaced with utter relief, a glint of happiness returning to those green depths. Dean walked across the floor slowly, as if it hurt to do so. And then, standing only a foot away from his brother, Dean threw his arms around Sam and hugged him.

Confused, Sam tentatively hugged him back, unsure as to what exactly was going on. Why was Dean acting like this? It certainly wasn't normal Dean Winchester behaviour. When Dean pulled away, hands still on his brother's shoulders, Sam stared at him while he tried to figure out if something serious had happened that he didn't remember.

"What happened? Why are we at Bobby's?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Dean answered the question with another. Sam frowned, but replied cautiously.

"The witch job at St Morleys. Why?"

Dean grinned and ran a hand through his hair, "It's nothing."

"Some bad stuff went down at St Morleys," Bobby spoke up "Both of you were hurt and you were out for a while."

"How long?"

"About two months."

Sam stared in shock, "_Two months_? What the hell went down on that hunt?"

As Bobby explained that the witch had been into some seriously powerful stuff that they hadn't encountered much before, and that she'd targeted Sam specifically which explained the loss of memory, Sam frowned. It made sense. But somehow, in his mind, it didn't. Something didn't add up. As he thought about this, his headache intensified within his skull, reverberating and making him groan and grab at his head.

"What is it?" Dean asked, panic and worry obvous in his tone. Since when did Dean _panic_?

"Just a headache. It'll be fine," he dismissed it, but Dean was having none of it, and neither were Bobby or Castiel.

"You should get back to bed," Bobby said.

Castiel nodded his agreement, "You need to rest."

"Apparently I've been resting for two months," Sam grumbled under his breath and rolled his eyes, not understanding why they were so adamant about this. After all, a little witch voodoo wasn't anything too serious, was it? But Dean steered him out of the room and back up the stairs, and Sam realised he was too tired to argue or fight with him. He let Dean take him back to the room. Within seconds he was flat on his back on the bed with his eyes threatening to close on him in sleep.

"Dean?" he asked, wanting to get this question out before he forgot about it. Dean was already by the door, ready to leave. The hunter paused and looked back, "Yeah?"

"What really happened? That whole story was bullshit."

Dean chuckled. Sam rolled his eyes. Had they really thought he was that stupid and out of it not to realise when they were lying to him?

"You don't want to know."

"Yeah I do, Dean. Stop screwing around."

"I'm not."

The seriousness of Dean's tone was enough to make the retort die on Sam's tongue. Dean didn't use that particular tone unless it was life or death; something so important that he didn't want any argument on it – he just wanted it done with no questions asked, _needed_ it done with no questions asked. Dean turned his gaze on Sam and the younger brother saw the same tone reflected in his eyes – he wasn't kidding, and he needed Sam to understand that. It was more than his big brother voice. It was more than his 'I'm in charge now' voice. This was something different altogether.

"Please Sam. Just trust me on this one. You _don't_ want to know. So don't ask. Ever. Can you promise me that?"

"What am I, five?" Sam scoffed, trying to lighten the tension. But the way Dean's eyes darkened with pain and regret, that look of loss and remembered horrors that  
>Sam had seen so many times after Dean's return from Hell, made Sam shut his mouth and listen.<p>

"Promise me. Don't ask. Don't think about it. Just forget this ever happened. St Morleys was an average witch hunt that went wrong, and that's all you need to know."

"What _happened_…" Sam trailed off again, seeing Dean staring at him. He sighed.

"Promise. Okay?"

"I'm serious Sam."

"I know."

Dean nodded, understanding. They didn't do heartfelt. They didn't do this sort of stuff _at all_. And so that reluctant reply was Sam's best attempt at a serious answer. He wasn't going to make Dean feel any worse than he obviously already did. Dean shut the door quietly behind him, and within seconds, as the soft darkness closed over him, Sam dropped off to sleep.

**/\/\**

_He's strong enough to realise when to give up. The walls are holding. He promised._

_He'll be fine_.


End file.
